


I (sorta accidentally) Lied When I Got My Job

by SensationalSista



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Daily Planet employee!Kara, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Humor, Kara's super dorky, The Craigslist AU no one asked for, eventual domestic themes, supercat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2018-11-15 07:20:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11226063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SensationalSista/pseuds/SensationalSista
Summary: "Help Wanted ASAP!  So please hear me out. I (sorta accidentally) lied when I got my job, telling them I had a kid so I could leave early to get him from school, take him on school trips and occasionally miss work when he was ‘sick’. Long story short, I’m in too deep now. I’m looking to rent a kid for Bring Your Child to Work Day.."AU supercat based on a Tumblr Craigslist Ad





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Saw this Craigslist Ad on Tumblr and just took it upon myself to make it into a Supercat fanfic for no reason. 4 parter. Please enjoy.

Kara sighed, long and heavily, fingers finally stilling atop her laptop keyboard.  Blue eyes danced across the screen, reading the words now typed in front of her. She bit her lip, sucking gently in thought before releasing it with a quiet ‘pop’; the sound seemingly blaring in the peacefulness of her studio apartment.

With a negative shake of her head, she reached for the backspace key, pressing unnecessarily hard against it until the creak of cracking plastic alerted her. Soon enough, as the lines disappeared, she quickly began speed typing again. New text was staring back at her within seconds, blue eyes reading through it again.

Another breath made its way to her mouth, and yet again, she sighed for what must have been the thousandth time that evening. Frustrated, her hands flew to her face, rubbing the skin gently; some sort of attempt at soothing.

She had always been an honest woman. Well, as honest and as a woman that any alien could possibly be here on the blue planet. But all of that aside, she truly did her best.

How had she come to this? Why the lies?

It had all started back 2 years ago when she had applied for an editorial position at The Daily Planet. Her cousin, Kal, otherwise known as _the_ Clark Kent, top reporter for the Planet, worked there. Needless to say, he had been a stunning reference given his notoriety at the place. All she had to do was ace the interview; just as average, non-special, happy, loyal and sunny Kara Danvers. She was a shoe-in!

So, why, _why,_ did she find it at all necessary to embellish her already well established Earth history? When her future employer had asked a completely non-interview related, totally casual conversation question toward the end of the interview, all Kara had to do was answer honestly. For a change of pace, she had an honest to goodness truthful answer with no need for any lie or any secret identity sort of thing.

_“Do you have any children, Ms. Danvers?”_

That very moment haunts her dreams now. Everything inside her honest and truthful being at that moment screamed ‘no!’ and yet, for some reason, a small part of her subconscious must have enjoyed the thoughts of getting out of work for school trips, or coming in late due to a child’s doctor appointments.

And for whatever darned reason, as soon as the automatic ‘yes’ escaped her lips, she uncharacteristically doubled down on that white lie out of pure embarrassment for her moment of weakness.

When she had told Kal immediately after her hire, he just gave her a dumbfounded look. _“We’ve spent our lives hiding ourselves behind well established and fool-proofed cover identities, and you go and change your back story, just like that? I pray this doesn’t bite you in the butt.”_

Her foster sister hadn’t been so pleasant in her own opinionated and colorful comments. It took Kara weeks of promises that she’d not let this lie get out of hand.

But now, fast forwarding 2 years and not just doubling down but quintupling down on her lie through countless conversations, Kara wound herself up in a really awkward spot, and even worse, about $150 (plus tax) in the red after she went out and bought a slim silver band to adorn her ring finger.

And that’s why, at 10:35pm on a Tuesday night, she found herself writing a requested help ad on Craiglist in her last ditch attempt to salvage her credibility before the truth came tumbling out amongst her co-workers.

Kara re-opened her eyes, dropping her hands back to the keyboard, trying to finish the most confusing and strange help wanted ad that she assumed was ever composed. She stopped to re-read her masterpiece, trying to summarize her problem as cohesively as possible for someone obviously more sane than she.

 

**“ Title: Help Wanted ASAP!**

**Description: So please hear me out. I (sorta accidentally) lied when I got my job, telling them I had a kid so I could leave early to get him from school, take him on school trips and occasionally miss work when he was ‘sick’. Long story short, I’m in too deep now. I’m looking to rent a kid for Bring Your Child to Work Day 2 weeks from today. **

**Requirements: Must be a boy age 5-7 with curly brown hair who likes basketball, essentially he has to look like the stock photo in the frame I put on my desk (stock photo attached). He also must be artistic as the macaroni noodle drawings I made seem a little advanced for someone his age. He also needs to respond to “My Little Picasso” as that’s what my wife and I call him. Also, I will pay extra for someone also willing to play the role of my wife when dropping him off. Her name is Maggie, we met at a yoga studio, and she’s a detective that often brings her work home with her-**

**You know what, just message me for more details, serious inquiries only!”**

 

She made sure that the stock photo, which she had Googled ages ago when asked why she didn’t have any pictures of her son up at work, was uploaded to the ad. People honestly did not know how long she had spent photoshopping the watermark off of the darn thing.

With a lasting look, she made a face at her ridiculous request. Honestly, what did she have to lose at this point? She tapped the enter key, confirming the post submission and prayed she would get her answer soon.

 

-*-

 

Kara: _no one has answered yet_

Alex: _Did you make sure to say that you’re also an alien?_

Alex: _Oh._ _Wait. I forgot you posted the ad because you have become a big fat LIAR!_

Kara: _stoppp i’m already upset enough, i don’t need your sass_

Alex: _You’re an absolute idiot sometimes_

Kara: _:(_

Kara: _i’m desperate though!!_

Alex: _*sigh* Just give it some more time. Who knows what kind of people are lurking on that sketchy site._

Kara put down her phone, not in the mood to continue texting after her sister had pointed out the stereotype of many Craiglist users.

She refreshed her email again, frowning, yet sill not surprised that nothing new had appeared in her inbox. It had already been two days since she had posted her ad. She was totally new this whole requesting help online thing. Her computer usage repertoire was not too much more embellished beyond social media sites and her favorite: Pinterest. Was 48 hours too long for a reply? Too short? Was there even a typical etiquette for her kind of situation? Probably not.

A rumble grew from her stomach. Somewhat grateful for a distraction, she shoved her laptop onto the couch cushion beside her and made her way into her open design kitchen. She opened a few cupboards, throwing a bag of popcorn into the microwave, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, while also pulling a container of some leftover pizza slices. A second supper was a natural, if not mandatory, occurrence in her household after all.

The PB&J was devoured in a near instant. She hovered herself onto the counter, munching her way through her first slice of cold buffalo chicken pizza while the electric oven droned on beside her.

“What am I going to do?” she muttered. Kal had come to her earlier that day with a message from one of their superiors, who had a message from their _boss_ , specifically wanting to let Kara know that the young alien was seeming distracted the past couple of days. She knew they were both right. This lie was going to get the better of her sooner or later, and it already looked as if it was taking its toll mentally. She may as well get it over with by admitting her fault, and just suffer the embarrassing consequences already.

The microwave pinged, interrupting her thoughts, and she smiled in relief at the warm smell of freshly popped popcorn. She reached her arm over to the device, ready to push the pop-open handle when she froze in place. The light was still on the inside, the mechanical buzz still droning on with the continuous melody of popping kernels, and numbers continued to count down. It was still running. But she definitely heard a ping-

Ice blue eyes darted back into her living space. With a burst of super speed, she flew over to her computer. She sucked in a hopeful breath. There it was. A new email alert was waiting for her from the Craigslist email bot. Mentally bracing herself for what the message could contain, trying not to let her hopes soar too high, she clicked it open.

 

**“Hello, I am inquiring about your… peculiar ad re: the absurd lie about having a child. I must say that your situation is.. intriguing, to say the absolute least. Disturbing on some levels, even. However, you’ve successfully caught my interest and I’m always one for a challenge. If this is indeed real and not some elaborate prank or result of some childish dare, then email me back and perhaps we can hash out the details.**

**-Cat”**

 

Kara exhaled after a long moment. Although she didn’t need oxygen nearly the same that humans did, she still felt a little light headed at the sheer luck of her situation. It worked. She had actually (potentially) found someone willing and able to help. This woman could be her savior! A knight in shining armor!

She spent no time quelling her ridiculous thoughts before responding.

 

**“Hi Cat! This is not a joke at all (as much as I wish it was at this point). I can’t express how much I appreciate your contact! I promised I’d compensate you and your child for your time. I don’t earn much, but I hope we can work out something reasonable.  
I live in Metropolis. Is that OK? Are you nearby? We can get coffee and discuss details further, as well as let you see that I’m not some Catfish creep. BTW, this is my photo for proof (see attached).**

**Thank you!**

**Kara”**

 

Kara finished attaching her generic staff photo from The Daily Planet website before sending off the email. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there, staring at her inbox; waiting, waiting, waiting.

_Waiting._

 She finally blinked, seemingly breaking her trance for the first time in an eternity.

She drew her gaze down to the clock and shook her head disbelievingly. It was nearly midnight. How had she just wasted 2 hours of her life staring at nothing? Thank goodness for superhuman eyes or else she truly would have damaged them from the strain.. and dryness.

She wriggled her lips, trying to decide whether or not to just go to bed for her usual habitual 4 hours. But all of a sudden, her inbox pinged once more and right before her tired eyes, a new message appeared. She paused her hand mid-air as it immediately reached for her mouse-pad. _Calm down, Danvers,_ chided her mind at her elation and eagerness. She collected herself, counting to an agonizingly long 60 in her head, before opening the message.

 

**“Kara,**

**Well if that was not the most Millennial email I have ever read.. Monetary compensation is not a concern of mine. I’m sure whatever you had in mind would suffice. Unfortunately, we live in National City and understand that it may be too much of a hassle to complete this task given the distance. Let me know.**

**Besides, judging by your photo, I imagine there is quite the number of suitors lining up at your door to help you already.**

**-Cat”**

 

Kara just blinked. And blinked. And continued to stare dumbly at the screen.

Was she reading that correctly? This unknown woman just gave her quite the compliment. She rarely received compliments like that, especially regarding her appearance. Hidden under the guise of dark-rimmed glasses, hair in a low ponytail, button-up literally buttoned to the very top clasp, she felt the image only personified her internal dorkiness. It was so flippantly mentioned too, and so absolutely out of the blue.

Oh Rao, why was her face suddenly so hot?

 _Ugh. Stop it, Kara_ , she scolded herself again, wishing it wasn’t so easy for her to fall for such niceties. She knew near nothing about this woman beyond a name, the fact that she had a son, that she was either kind enough or insane enough to help her, and apparently that she thought Kara was in the realm of.. obviously attractive. Apparently?

Clearing her throat, as if preparing to physically speak with this woman, Kara pulled herself together.

Like Hell was she letting this Cat woman go that easily, now.

 

**“Hah! It’s actually a really short line; population, you. But National City is actually great. I’m going to be visiting my sister there this weekend, so if you’re available to meet and talk at some point, hit me up. I’ll include my phone number at the bottom.**

**BTW, I hope you appreciate my Millennial conversation abilities.**

**Kara”**

 

She had already sent the message before she bothered re-reading it. Goodness, why was she so absurdly lame?! _‘Population, you’? What even was that?_ Why was she so Rao damn awkward at this sort of thing? She’s had 13 years of human interaction practice and yet still could not claim to be competent in this particular area of conversation.  She hoped that she just came off as pleasantly friendly and innocent, rather than partially attempting to add some flirtatious vibes to her message.

Regarding the rest of her message content, Kara hadn’t actually been planning on visiting her sister and Alex’s wife that weekend, but National City was not that far away. Especially when you had the capability of flight. It was really just a quick jaunt, and Alex was okay with her doing so as long as she flew under the cover of night.

So, spending a couple of minutes to meet this mysterious Cat was nothing, if not simultaneously everything to Kara at this moment.

As the empty night rolled on into the early morning, rays of Friday’s golden sun making their first light through the apartment windows, Kara had been laying awake grappling with the fear that her terrible flintiness had scared away this woman.

It wasn’t until noon that she received a text message from an unknown number, confirming that meeting on Saturday afternoon would work out. And that was all it took to clear any nervousness from last night from her mind. Kara was instantly over the moon. It was just over 24 hours away, but boy did it feel like waiting a year to the young blonde woman.

If Kal and her work superiors were worried about her concentration at work over the last few days, Kara was absolutely spaced out beyond the remnants of Krypton for all of today.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, your responses have been really amazing O_O Thank you all!  
> This is Part 2. Please enjoy.

The café was comfortable. Not too terribly bustling now that the lunchtime rush was flittering down, but it still felt cozy. Noonan’s. It was an interesting name. The young woman had seen it in passing before during other visits to National City. Alex had mentioned it as a popular place, but they never had visited it before. Cat had suggested it yesterday, mentioning briefly that it was the only café in the city that she trusted to serve a decent coffee.

Kara sat at one of the window booths, anxiously picking at the black lid capping on her (actually really amazing) pumpkin spice latte.

Of course, she had arrived early. She hated being late, and after exchanging a small number of pleasant text messages over the course of yesterday afternoon, this particular meeting had her buzzing with anticipation. But she hadn’t really thought through the fact she would be waiting inside the most delicious smelling café ever.

In front of her sat two cinnamon buns, each on their own small white plates; so tempting and just waiting to be consumed. It was meant to be a small welcoming gift; something for each of them to enjoy whilst they spoke. But her contact was now 5 minutes _late_ to their confirmed meeting time, and Kara’s hunger was now creeping into her already anxious state. She eyed the small bakery panel on the far side of the bar, wishing she had bought a few more sticky buns to satiate her appetite while passing the time, but how had she known that this Cat woman was going to be so behind schedule.

She lifted her phone for the fourth time in the last few minutes, noting that there were no new messages or missed calls. She watched another minute tick by before her eyes and she was just about to get up and go over to the counter to order a few more snacks.

Then there was a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye, paired with the welcoming bell to the front doors. As she had with a few other patrons coming in around that time, Kara lifted her head in expectation.

And she felt her heart stop, jaw slightly dropping for a moment of stunned silence.

Waltzing in to this little boutique-esq café was none other than her company’s biggest and most challenging rival, located in this very National City: Cat Grant. Kara had only seen the admittedly gorgeous woman on the covers of her billion dollar multi-media company magazines and in the few interviews she had been practically forced to watch to make sure she was editing an article’s quotable content correctly. However, she had never experienced the woman in person. But, Rao, she was more stunning than any photographer or videographer could ever capture on film alone.

Kara knew that her own boss would have her head for being this dumbly star struck over the Daily Planet’s biggest competitor, but she honestly couldn’t help herself. From head to toe, this woman screamed competent, confident and sensuality, while simultaneously silently demanding order from all of those in her presence; her small stature appearing to elevate above everyone else. Soft yellow locks framed that adorably heart shaped face. And those hazel eyes were absolutely piercing as Kara stared into them-

Why on Earth was she staring into Cat Grant’s eyes?!

The petite woman had done an about-face since entering, now completely turned to face the young aspiring reporter, and was.. making a B-line straight toward her table! Hips sashaying, small purse hanging in the crook of her elbow, Louboutin heels clicking with such a powerful force.. Kara’s mouth went dry, but she somehow had the where-with-all to at least close her gaping jaw.

This petite woman stopped at the other edge of the table, and Kara barely realized she had lowered her gaze from the beautiful forest orbs. Blue eyes now had to drag themselves up the cobalt blue and black printed, form fitting dress, past the subtle gold chain dangling against exposed collarbones, up a slim neck to that same face she had been admiring from afar. Hazel eyes were still piercing right through her. Those glossy, ruby red lips, moving so perfectly.

A voice.

Wait. Was that directed to her?

“Wh-what? Sorry..” Kara blushed, blinking stupidly.

The standing woman rolled her eyes with a heavy sigh. “Are. You. Kiera?” she repeated in and exceedingly pointed tone, as if she just wasted the most important 20 seconds of her life having to clarify herself. Actually, that was probably exactly how she felt.

Kara swallowed. Hard. “Yes.” She quietly mumbled under her breath, “And it’s pronounced _Kara_ , actually..”

The woman took her seat, sliding across from her. “Cat,” she responded curtly to Kara’s introduction. “I believe we have a meeting.” She placed her purse down beside her, checking through it with a bored expression. “Judging by the look of plebian awestruck wonder and drool having made its way down your chin as you sat there catching flies, it’s fair to assume that I was not who you were expecting.”

The realization, no matter how delayed, hit her like a meteor. If Kara hadn’t already felt flushed, she must have been absolutely beet red by then.

Despite having superhuman abilities here on Earth, she was such an absolute weakling when it came to her emotions.. and, admittedly so, a pretty face. She was so star struck with this woman’s entrance that the thought had not even occurred to her that she could ever have been in contact with not just any lady named Cat.. but _the_ one and only Cat Grant. The most powerful person in National City.

Somewhere, in the deep dark recesses of her logically thinking brain, a red flag was raised regarding Cat Grant, in particular, taking a leading role in this particular plot. It went actively ignored at the moment though.

Somehow, Kara rediscovered her voice, despite the smaller woman folding her arms across the table and tossing her a raised eyebrow. “Uh, well, no. Not.. not exactly.” She coughed, trying to clear the roughness in her voice. “I mean, especially given the circumstances. Like, wow..” She struggled to dampen her emotions. “I mean, why-“

“-Why would I, of all people, answer an absurd ad like yours,” she cut off the slightly darker haired blonde; the question turned into a statement by its directness.

Kara merely nodded, finding it easier to let Cat take the reins on the start of their conversation.

The older blonde wasted little time. While taking an interest in her cuticles, she dryly responded, “My therapist had recommended I do community outreaches. Help those who need help. _Directly_ , I should clarify, without use of a media outlet to spread awareness.” She frowned. “Get my hands ‘dirty’.”

At that, it was Kara’s turn to frown slightly as she sobered. “So.. charity cases?” As Cat took a second to consider before nodding in a more-or-less fashion, the young wonder seemed to fully regain her focus. She sighed in a more dejected manner. “Of course that’s the reason..” She stared down at her latte, missing the slightly interested look she was now being given. “Look, I’m not making you do this and obviously you don’t need the money. So, if it’s really such a chore, then I don’t want you to waste your time.”

It was quiet for a beat or so as Cat just looked at her, silence filling the closed booth area, before the older woman spoke up again as her eyes dropped to the table. “Did you get me a cinnamon bun?”

Completely thrown from the interjection to their conversation, Kara lifted her head. Perplexed, she treaded forward with a simple explanation. “Um, yes.. I just figured we could both use a-“

“-I don’t eat sugary carbs,” she said matter of factly. “Or else I’ll never be able to maintain this perfect temple.” As she motioned to herself, Kara felt her own eye roll coming on, barely able to stifle it. This woman was starting to prove herself to be too much. But before an annoyed word could clear the edge of her lips, the other woman was daintily picking the cinnamon bun up with a napkin and placing it on top of Kara’s own untouched sweet dessert. “You need to eat it. I can’t bear listening to the growl of your stomach anymore.” Although veiled with something akin to disdain, was that a hint of concern that Kara perceived?

She didn’t spend much time wondering as she soon blinked in surprise. She hadn’t even noticed the grumbles in her gut, which were now growing more apparent to her. With hesitation, she eventually nodded, trying not to seem too eager as she took a bun and began to munch on it. As she did, the other woman leaned back into the puffy booth cushions.

“Look,” she started with a slightly gruff tone. “This is not something that I usually do. Mainly, because I don’t have spare time with running an entire media empire to physically even get around to outreaches anymore. It’s had to have been nearly 2 decades since I could still spend time on the frontline of reports. But my therapist suggested I take some time to leave my comfort zone and get back in touch with basic life. Like, how it was before I had.. _all of this_.” She gestured openly in the air, but Kara did not miss the indication in the direction of the Catco skyscraper making its appearance barely two blocks away.

Swallowing the first sticky bun, Kara shrugged. “It’s still a charity case.”

Cat rolled her eyes. “Call it what you will. Do you want my help or not? You made it pretty clear in your emails that you were desperate.”

That much was true. Kara brought her latte to her lips. “I know, beggars can’t be choosers.” Something flickered in Cat’s eye, as if she wasn’t used to anyone treating her help as even potentially unwanted. Kara let out a breath at the minute reaction, lifting her lips slightly at the corners. “I really do appreciate your willingness to accept my request, despite its weirdness.”

Cat barked a laugh, almost defensively. “Trust me, my help could be put in many places. Soup kitchens, afterschool projects.. Be hands on at the places I already provide monthly donations to ensure their best quality for my public.” Kara tilted her head in intrigued surprise at that, taking another drink of her beverage to try to hide her smile at this woman’s downplayed generosity. “But I’m still a journalist at heart. I like the unusual, the extraordinary. And I guess my instincts see that in you.” She smirked then. “And they’re usually right.”

Kara felt herself spit some of her drink back at that, coughing. She had to fight the tiniest twitch in her fingers that would have disintegrated the weak cup on the spot. “M-me? I’m not extraordinary. Except being extraordinarily average! Super normal. Well not super. Just, you know, normal. Hah!” She forced a laugh, while grabbing a napkin to stop herself from looking like such a messy fool, eyes thankful for the brief aversion.

Cat raised a skeptical brow, but continued forward. “Be that as it may, Miss Extraordinarily Average Kiera, I assume you are willing to take my assist?”

The taller of the two blondes faltered. “Fine yes. And, it’s _Kara_.” She corrected the billionaire CEO with a little more confidence this time around. When she received a surprised look at her slight authoritative change in tone, she took another breath and smiled a little cheekily as her next line came to mind instantly. “If you’re going to be my wife, you have to get that right.”

Cat’s eye brows both rose this time, interest now evident on her features. It only took a short second before she had schooled her features back into that ever professional mask, but it was well worth the reaction to the young blonde. “Kara, then.” Cat’s own lipstick painted lips rose in the corners. “Now, tell me again, _darling_.” At the smooth drawl, Kara couldn’t help the sudden flush to her cheeks. “What is the story of.. _us_.”

The playfulness, so utterly different than the conversation vibe of not even 10 minutes prior, really caught Kara off guard. Not in a bad way, but still. The heat in her cheeks didn’t seem to be going away any time soon. She went with the direct response, revealing the cover story.

“Well, 6 years ago we met at a yoga class when we had to pair up and do partner yoga, and we got married like 9 months later.”

“U-hauling at its finest I see,” Cat drawled once more as Kara bashfully shrugged. Cat waved down a waitress, asking for a black coffee, before then ushering Kara to continue.

“Your name is Maggie, and you’re a detective.” Kara laughed a little to herself. “My sister’s wife, Maggie, who actually is a detective, had called me at work once while planning my sister’s birthday. A coworker asked if it was my wife on the phone, and I had already been so stuck in my lies that I literally just told them about her.”

“Wow. So very creative of you.” The short haired blonde joked as her coffee arrived. “If any of your colleagues go to your family functions, there are sure to be questions raised..”

Kara laughed, a little more freely this time. “Don’t I know it! Which is why no one will ever meet my family.” She smiled. “My real family at least. They will be meeting Maggie and Ben soon enough, though.”

At that Cat placed her coffee down. “I assume this Ben character will be played by my son?” Kara nodded, hopeful look in her eyes. Cat turned and opened her purse, retrieving a small photo. She handed it to Kara, whose eyes lit up.

“This is your son? He looks just like the stock photo!” She wished she didn’t sound so excited. It really was a weird thing to say to a mother.

The older of the duo nodded, a gentle smile now over coming her face. “That’s Carter. He’s 6 now. A prodigy in his First Grade class, especially in art. He doesn’t play sports though, but he’ll wear a jersey with some encouragement and promises of cookie dough ice cream.” Kara didn’t miss the softening of Cat’s eyes. “He’s gifted. My pride and joy.”

A warmth spread in her chest as she watched Cat talk about her son. There was so much love in her voice. Something that the media mogul Cat grant was never depicted of expressing. More so, other media outlets described her as being void of anything but ruthlessness. Even the confident woman, who had marched in here so powerfully earlier, seemed far from able to express this type of emotion. But right before Kara’s eyes, she felt as though she was being gifted something precious; the look of Cat Grant with walls down, heart open.

And it was amazing.

After Cat spent a few more minutes of speaking about her son, answering Kara’s questions, and engaging in some equal laughs, Kara leaned back in her seat. She was smiling ear-to-ear, and enjoying the easy aura coming off of the gorgeous woman across from her. They spent time hashing out details; planning to show Carter a photo of Kara so he knew what Kara looked like, what type of jersey he should wear, whether Cat could embellish things of ‘Maggie’s’ back story to make her somewhat more interesting since apparently Kara “wasted an awesome opportunity by making up such a boring wife”..

But as Kara smiled, she came up with a not-so fun question that she figured she should really get out of the way before they continued on with their charade. Oh boy, she really did not want to bring this up. Not after the last few minutes that had been spent in such pleasant ease. And certainly not after she had felt her superficial attraction to this woman slowly beginning to deepen, teetering toward something else..

It had to be done though.

With a nervous brush toward her glasses, she asked, “Um, your husband doesn’t think this whole arrangement is strange, does he?” Her voice was a bit more timid than it had been while describing her stories, and certainly lacked the same enthusiasm as she had just been expressing. And she secretly despised the idea of having to hear anything about this woman’s partner, but for this particular situation, it still felt unavoidable. Her blue eyes had not missed the empty ring finger across from her during their short time together, but she did not want to let her hopes soar as high as her flight abilities.. not yet at least.

Cat equally sobered at the mention, but her gaze never turned more than bland disinterest. A new sarcasm now filled her voice. “Oh please, Kara. Even if my most recent ex-husband and I were still together, it’d not matter his opinion either way. Independent women, like ourselves, needn’t require the permission of any partner for living our lives to our own choosing.” Her ending sentence was filled with such empowerment that it literally sent a tingle down Kara’s spine.

_Wow._

And further than just the overwhelming power of the statement, Kara, honestly, was not expecting how much she needed to hear those words of confirmation.. of Cat’s current relationship status. But, why? _Well, obviously for the sake of an honest performance, of course!_ Deep down she knew that no matter how many times she repeated that very reason, there was more to the relief than she wanted to fully acknowledge at this time.

Regardless, her lips stretched into a toothy grin. She chuckled and happily agreed. “Yes. You’re very right, Cat.”

The waitress passed back, accepting payment for the service and wishing the ladies well for the rest of their day.

Then, the two women sat in comfortable silence for a minute, eyes just scanning over one another as they sipped the lasting remnants of their respected drinks. The moment was short lived however as the media mogul’s eyes drifted toward her cell phone. If Kara wasn’t watching Cat’s features with such interest, she’d have missed the small frown tugging at the woman’s lips.

“I have a meeting in 15 minutes,” she said, almost reluctantly packing up her belongings. “I actually hadn’t been expecting our chat to run so long.” Despite the words presented in a fairly airy voice, Kara could sense the underlying longing. Perhaps it was because Kara was feeling the exact same way. It had been over an hour by the time they were finally through, but she had wished that they could just keep talking for the rest of the afternoon.

“You can text me,” Kara found herself piping up while she watched as Cat stood from the table, brushing the crinkles from her starch pressed dress. Hazel eyes caught Kara’s at that offer. “Er, you know. We’ll be in contact, is what I mean.” She awkwardly stood up too, knocking the table slightly as she did in her rush. It tilted a little at the abrupt force, which she steadied immediately. “Ah, these loose tables have such poor supports..” she chuckled weakly.

Cat stood, watching her with an almost condescending eye brow raise, yet something was alight with amusement in the way her eyes crinkled. “Hm. I always thought Noonan’s bolted their tables to the floor to prevent that from happening.” Kara nearly choked, eyes bulging. Looks like she had bumped the table a little too hard in her hurry. “I should complain to the manager about such physical hazards. I do get my daily coffee from this establishment.”

Kara laughed nervously. “I don’t think that’s necessary. The coffee is far away from such _dangerous_ tables.” In her anxious hurry, she stepped beside the petite blonde and, without even thinking, placed a guiding hand on the small of her back. “Wasn’t there a meeting you needed to go to?” she said in deflection, ushering the older woman with her towards the door.

Cat looked as if she were about to protest the intimate physicality of the action, slightly startled by it even, but thought better of it at the last moment.

The two made it outside within seconds. Kara tilted her head and pushed her thick glasses up the bridge of her nose out of nervous habit, wishing that the good-bye was not imminent. Alas, she knew it had to be done.

“Go have fun with your sister,” the small blonde said, gently fluffing her hair with a free hand; the other tucking her purse at her elbow. “We’ll be in contact,” she echoed Kara’s texting comment from moments ago. Cat turned her green eyes up to Kara’s own baby blues. Despite her high heels, she was still nearly 2 inches shorter than Kara. “Surprisingly, I found that it was actually not a chore to meet you.”

Ignoring the jab that Kara was learning to associate with the woman’s personality, Kara smiled widely. There was also the nervous bubble back in her gut. “Right back atcha!” After that left her mouth, she nearly outwardly groaned at her lameness. _Sometimes, Kara, you really shouldn’t be allowed to speak,_ she chided herself. Thank goodness when writing she could at least edit and proof-read!

But Cat just tilted her head, slightly confused, yet slightly amused too, with a small lilt of her lip.

Just as Kara expected Cat to turn and walk away, the older woman piped up once more. “Oh, you never told me what exactly it is that you do. I am quite a high profile face, if you hadn’t noticed.” She smirked but added thoughtfully. “Although, Metropolis is definitely the only city that attempts a full media blackout to the masses regarding my news. And you haven’t brought it up, so I assume it won’t be an issue?”

An immediate cold sweat broke out over Kara’s body. It’s not exactly that, after she had realized just exactly who she had set up this meeting with, she was avoiding the topic of employment.. She just wasn’t necessarily keen on bringing it up. She could basically hear her foster sister’s sarcastic tone ring through her head with something along the lines of, ‘ _This is some Romeo and Juliet bullshit going on here’._

Kara had to hush a chuckle and focus her attention back to Cat’s question. “Um, you know. I edit people’s writing. Basic cubicle desk job: papers, staplers, pencils..” She trailed off, pretty much just naming off the items typically present on her desk.

It seemed to pacify the woman. “Hmm, vague. What sort of attire will be appropriate?”

Kara shook her head anxiously trying to find her words, eventually ending up shrugging. “Ah.. Business to business casual attire. Like this.” She gestured at herself; light pastel button up (top two buttons actually undone today!) and dark, hip hugging khakis. Cat made a face, easily interpreted as disgust.

“You wear that Macy’s clearance rack outfit to work? Don’t tell me all you have is a strip mall wardrobe.” Kara frowned in a pout, looking down at herself. She should have expected that. With another shrug, she offered an explanation.

“I don’t make that much. Maybe if I one day get a promotion, I could upgrade to Gap.” At the pained and aghast gasp, Kara lost her subdued frown and laughed lightly.

Cat pursed her lips before airily letting it go. “Well, don’t expect me show up in a Banana Republic cardigan just to fit in to your pay-grade. I have standards to uphold.” Kara just dismissed the fact that Banana Republic was actually a step _up_ from the Gap, and well out of her pay-grade reaches at this time. But it was all chump change spending to the obviously well-off CEO. It is what it is.

Kara motioned her hand up and down toward the CEO’s body vaguely, trying not to let her eyes drop too far from Cat’s face as she was not sure she’d be able to raise them up again. “That’s totally cool. Like.. this outfit is great, but honestly you’d look great even in just a paper bag..” The common phrase slipped out of her mouth before she could check herself. An image instantly sprang to her mind that certainly was not PG rated, and it seemed to not be missed by Cat. She swallowed thickly at the smirk quickly gracing Cat’s lips. “And what I mean by that, er, you know. Whatever you pick to wear I’m, uh, sure will look- _be_ perfect.” Oh goodness, the blush was back tenfold.

But this seemed to please the older woman. With a confident smirk still in place, she nodded before bidding farewell and turning back in the direction of National City’s largest skyscraper.

The young editor smiled while waiting, taking the time to watch Cat disappear around the corner of the block, not missing the slight head turn over that exposed collar; eyes catching for a split second once more before Cat was gone.

Kara exhaled, feeling the loss immediately.

Not even a moment later did the red flag of early start to wave again. The reality of this elaborate rouge planned between her, the Daily Planet employee, and Cat Grant, queen of all media, sank into her mind.

_Oh man, how in the world am I going to pull this off?_

Fishing her phone out of her back pocket and opening her contact book, she hit the first contact photo to pop up. The call picked up after the second ring and Kara sighed dramatically. “Alex, you free?”

 

-*-

 

“Well isn’t this some Romeo and Juliet bullshit you got going on here.”

Kara snorted, proud she knew her sister so well that even her statements of exasperation were predictable. “Yeah, yeah.. I realize that.”

“Things can never be simple with you, can they,” she laughed. Alex then rolled her eyes with a smile. “But seriously? Lying to the person helping you out with your first lie?” She crossed her arms, squaring her sister down from across the kitchen island. “New low.”

The blonde dropped her elbows forward onto the granite countertop, rubbing her hands against her cheeks. With a groan, she uttered pathetically. “I know.. I just need advice. What should I do?”

Alex shrugged. “Well you could come clean with everyone, or fly us back in time 2 years ago to your interview?” At the glare she received, a smirk broke out across her features. “Just tell Cat that you need to pick someone else for the role.”

Kara frowned, eyes dropping unhappily. She muttered, “No. I can’t do that..”

The slightly shorter sister sighed, almost out of frustration. “Ok, well since you can’t make the decision then tell her where you work, and let her decide whether or not to continue.”

“I can’t do that either,” Kara said, maybe a little too quickly. Alex seemed to catch it and gave a surprised look.

“Can’t.. or _won’t_?” she treaded carefully.

Kara let out an exasperated groan, avoiding the question. “Alex, she’s going to say ‘no’ if I do that.”

“And..? It’s her human right to decline.” Alex immediately followed up, analyzing the blonde’s behavior. The little crinkle of worry was forming at her brow, and a new look of dejection flickered in those blue orbs as Alex finished her statement. Now, the highly trained DEO agent was not to be underestimated in her ability to piece together even the tiniest of hints of information, but Kara may as well have been wearing a sign. It dawned on her, hard and fast. “Oh, no, Kara. No, no, no..”

Alex pushed back from the counter, waggling her finger as she continued repeating the word. It only made the girl on the receiving end lull her head onto her shoulder, unable to hide the growing hue in her cheeks.

Now standing tall in front of the seated girl, she stared her down. “You have a thing for her, don’t you?” When she only got a bashful single shoulder shrug, Alex dropped her arms to her side. “Of course this would happen. Unbelievable.”

“Well, if you had _seen_ her..” she mumbled under breath, small indigent pout on her lips.

Alex’s arms had lifted again to cross her torso. The expression she made was all business as she stood next to the seated blonde; cocking her hip against the bar as she looked down at her blushing cheeks. “Kara,” she started, firm but with bits of sympathy entwined as well. “Regardless if you have one of your awe-struck puppy Danvers crushes on her or not, you still need to do the right thing.”

The blonde kept her eyes down to her folded arms. She had already known Alex was right, but hearing it coming from someone else was helpful to make everything real. Silently, she nodded her head.

There was a click of the main lock, filling the comfortable silence in the room. The door to the apartment swung open and the petite brunette woman walked in, arms filled with a stack of files. She bumped the door closed with her butt and sighed. Alex was turning on her feet in a moment, walking over.

“Hey Mags. Busy day down at the precinct?” She leaned in, giving a kiss in greeting. Maggie lifted her hands, showing the papers and raised a brow. Alex nodded. “I get it, bringing the detective stuff home again.”

From across the room, Kara whined and lazily flapped her extended arm towards the two brunettes. “Can I please just borrow the real Maggie?”

The new arrival gave a confused look toward her alien sister-in-law, while Alex called back over her shoulder with a smirk. “Go get your own wife.”

Arms flopping weakly to her sides, Kara groaned dramatically, leaning her head sideways onto the table top. “I’m trying!”

She had some time. But good golly gosh, it was going to be a long week and a half.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was originally a one-shot that just got so much longer than anticipated. But there'll be one more installment for an Epilogue of sorts to tie up a few more loose ends.   
> Part 3. Please enjoy.

Kara rubbed a frustrated hand over her face, before letting her palm cup her cheek; the weight of her shoulder was supported by her elbow propped atop her sweatpants covered knee. She looked at the phone’s message screen, held by her opposite hand. At the top of the thread was the previously unknown number, now long since replaced by Cat’s contact name. With her thumb, she scrolled up and down the exchanged messages. It took her 7 swipes to go up and down, plus letting the phone take its intermittent own scroll time between tactile releases, to see the entirety of the text chain. For the simplicity of the role-playing task, it was certainly more conversation than necessary shared between both parties.

But it had been a number of days since their meeting, and Kara was now staring down T-minus 6 days until she’d pull off this ordeal. Needless to say, still no other volunteer had offered to take her up on her ridiculous Craiglist posting, which she was actually happy about. Anyone else who came along would pale in comparison anyway.

But, not having just any plain old Joe-Schmo nobody to play the part also meant she had to come clean to Cat. Not only about the fact she worked for the woman’s enemy, but about how on Earth they could even accomplish the task. How did Kara not expect anyone to recognize her? Oh, it was so much harder than it seemed!

On the coffee table beside her, a paper list sat with bulleted notes down the side. She had taken the past few days to try to figure out some sort of alternatives of how to go about the plan. Mostly, she just wanted to have the ideas immediately ready to share with Cat when she inevitably declined further participation. Being prepared could be the only means to convince her otherwise. Kara absolutely hated how desperately she wanted to see this woman again, even if it was just going to be one more time.

So far, she had considered ( **1** ) Cat just dropping Carter off at the doors and sending him upstairs without her (forget the whole wife thing altogether), ( **2** ) Kara going down to pick Carter up outside of the building or maybe even a block away, or ( **3** ) Cat just arriving in a wig.

Finally, sucking up the fact that she was probably about to end this amazing friendship of sorts budding between them before she could even fathom it blossoming into anything more fruitful, she began typing her note.

Kara: _i sorta need to tell you something that i should have disclosed earlier_

It took only seconds for the response to come in.

Cat: _Oh Hell, I knew you were too good to be true._

Her sky blue eyes bulged; her breath hitching. It was these very interactions, such simple yet sweet words, ones that made her heart swell like the sea and flutter like a joyful butterfly, which made this task so unbelievably difficult. She watched as the small bubble of text dots popped up again, signaling another incoming message.

Cat: _You’re a serial killer._

Kara let out a goofy giggle into the emptiness of her studio. She typed out quickly, _‘well, my sister calls me a cereal killer because i can put away like 4 bowls of lucky charms in the morning.’_ Before she could hit send, though, she stopped herself. She knew that the response would amuse the older woman, if not pull out a chiding comment regarding Kara’s strange dietary habits. Either route would have led to some more banter.

However, this was not a time to be playfully exchanging stories, much to her dismay.

She held the backspace key down, frowning, and just sent a plain old _‘no’_ in response. Cat typed back immediately as if she was just waiting on bated breath for Kara’s response.

Cat: _Oh God, don’t tell me you’re a Republican._

Kara rolled her eyes, smirking at Cat’s priorities. Still, she tried her best to get herself to focus at the task at hand. She just replied the same single word in response once again. She hoped that keeping her responses curt would be a subtle means to get Cat to stop downplaying her attempted confession. It seemed to work as a longer stretch of seconds passed by between the previous message and the next.

Cat: _Well, you’ve thoroughly filled my quota of suspense for the day. Now, enlighten me._

This was it.

Kara: _ok… so i told you i had an editorial job_

Kara: _like for news reports and newspaper article editing.._

Kara: _and it’s at a kinda well known media outlet here in Metropolis_

Kara: _especially for superman coverage_

Her thumbs trembled over the keyboard, pausing after her speedily typed message spam; waiting for Cat to just piece the whole thing together for herself. Unlike the quick replies she had been getting just moments earlier, comparatively, this next response was taking absolute eons to come in. And she knew that the delay definitely wasn’t because the brilliant woman couldn’t put 2 and 2 together.

At that point, Kara wasn’t even sure if she had exhaled since sending the last message however many long minutes ago. She did feel a little light headed though, even for having superhuman abilities, so she eventually breathed out. It may have been a relief to her head and lungs, but certainly not to her stress levels.

Only when the text dots appeared, after forever, did she hunker down and prepare for the response. It did not come though. Four times, the text box would appear only to disappear again seconds later, leaving her staring down at the inbox. Eventually, the dots stopped completely. Her blonde head flopped back into her couch and she threw her arm over her eyes in frustration.

Well, there goes this plan working out, as well as any heartfelt hope of any potential..friendship.. relationship.. _things_ with Cat Grant working out; things which were probably only one-sided in Kara’s mind because she couldn’t help being puppy-love Danvers. Oh, goodness. She completely blew it big time, all due to her easily swayed emotions. Alex was right. She was an idiot sometimes.

A vibration suddenly began in her hand, startling the young woman back into a bolt upright position. _What in the...?_ She watched as an incoming call now stared back at her; Cat’s name front and center on the screen. She wasted no time swiping and picking up the call. She wasn’t sure that she would even be able to find her voice, but apparently, she didn’t need to.

 _“Kiera, this better be some sick joke. I know I was harsh, but if you actually are a Republican.. we all have faults, so it’s better to just own up.”_ Kara rolled her eyes with a wry smirk at Cat’s blatant refusal to accept the apparent horridness of her employment association to the Daily Planet.

“No joke, I’m sorry,” she said, softer sounding than expected.

There was a long silence as Cat seemed to contemplate everything. _“Well, what do you propose we do to fix this glaringly obvious kink in your chainmail?”_

Kara blinked, absolutely floored. Did Cat just gloss right over the fact that..? Did she understand the problem with..? Eventually, Kara cleared her throat. “Just.. just like that? Y-you want to still do it?” She breathed in, excitedly yet still anxious. “It’s not exactly an easy problem to overcome.”

 _“Please, if I gave up the moment something turned difficult, I’d never be where I am today.”_ She paused. Kara could hear the disdainful smirk accompanying the sneer soon over the phone. _“Ugh, I’d still be Perry White’s lowly intern.”_

Sky blue eyes widened. “No way! You worked at the Planet?”

There was a distasteful sigh; the words that followed, bitter. _“Not one of my favorite memories, but yes.”_ Kara felt a small smile growing at her lips as she dazed off across the shadowed apartment. The image of an aged early 20’s Cat Grant popped into her head; blonde hair maybe longer down her shoulders, wearing a 90’s style, brightly colored blazer and slacks. She’d be carrying around a clipboard, stacks of papers, and probably balancing multiple coffee orders in the crook of her arms. Oh Kara would give anything to see photos of that. Then she blinked at the sound of her name. _“Kara? Are you still there? Or are you just trying to imagine me a lifetime ago as Perry’s servant?”_

Rao, this woman was already opening Kara up and reading her like a book. It wasn’t fair. She shouldn’t be surprised, though. There was an obvious reason Cat was the all-star journalist that the world knew.

She bit her lip. “Oh, yeah, sorry.” She cleared her throat, hoping for some semblance of confidence. “And _no_ , I wasn’t imagining anything... I was just, um, reading down the list of my solutions.. In the rare case you had still wanted to help me.” Over the phone, Kara had no means to interpret how the woman took the obvious deflection. It bothered her a little that she couldn’t read Cat the same way that Cat obviously could. But maybe it was the fact that the whole not-seeing-Cat-at-all thing just bothered Kara in general.

At the encouraging hum on the other line, Kara read off her previous 3 ideas. There was a bored groan on the other line.

 _“ **1** & **2** : I am not sending my child into that building without my supervision and assurance that there will be no occupational hazards on his way to his destination, no matter how competent you seem for a Millennial.”_ Kara rolled her eyes. _“And **3** : I will never, ever, be caught dead in a wig.”_ Her voice was stern, obviously incredibly serious in her analysis of the situation and Kara’s proposed solutions. It just left the dirty-blonde scribbling out her sheet and just crumpling it into a ball.

“I don’t know what to do then. Anyone who sees you there will obviously recognize you.”

A scoff. _“Is that really the best you’ve come up with? It’s a good thing you work for the reality of news, because creativity certainly is not your strong suit.”_ Kara puckered her lips and puffed her cheeks, knowing it was a completely true observation that she lacked in the creativity and metaphorical areas. She’d spent almost 13 years on Earth trying to just learn reality for crying out loud. She still didn’t like accepting the fact though.

“Pssh, and you can do better?” she challenged lightly, half defiant for the comment just a moment ago, but half honest because she was so very hopeful the Cat could find a way out this mess.

 _“Oh, honey.”_ Cat’s voice dripped as sweetly as the nickname she had just given Kara. Said young woman, needless to say, immediately melted under the endearment, falling back gently into the plush of her worn out sofa. _“You should know me by now. Never underestimate the mind of one Cat Grant.”_

-

The morning sun was streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the 19th floor; the bland off-white office bathed in a slightly more golden glow. Kara stretched her shoulders, happy her desk was located just close enough to the window to always get some extra rays. It usually kept her energized and chipper throughout any dull or hectic day.

But today, no matter how nice the all-powerful sun felt, she sat on a huge pile of jitters. So far, only one co-worker had asked where her son was- wait, scratch that. Co-worker number two just asked as well.

Kara smiled trying to hide her anxiousness and acknowledged the question before watching her colleague, and his daughter, walk over to a desk across the semi-open room. So many kids were shuffling around for this Bring Your Child To Work day. Some of the young pre-schoolers and elementary school kids were excited and laughing; the presence of the sparse middle schoolers seemed to carry around doomy clouds of sheer boredom as they plugged into their i-phones.

With a sigh, Kara glanced down at her phone. Cat was scheduled to arrive in one minute, so Kara assumed it would really be a fashionably late entrance. She probably had another 5 or 10 minutes until her actual arrival. Over the last week, she had battled with the risk of having _The_ Cat Grant come to pose as her wife in front of staff that would obviously recognize her. But after listening to Cat and continuing to throw some ideas back and forth, they had devised a simple plan.

The ultimate goal was to keep one of the highest profile people in the nation, the world, as anonymous as possible during the exchange of ‘their’ son.

In the guise of her large, Dior brand sunglasses, Cat would enter the building, coercing the front desk guards to let her in for the special day. At Kara’s hesitance, she simply clarified _“If anyone there won’t recognize me up close, it’s the dim security guards. Perry always favored them being brawn over brain. Personally, I think it’s more for a_ measure _of power..”_ Kara didn’t push the undeniable observation.

Next in the plan, Kara would catch Cat early enough at the elevators, with Kal recruited at her side, to limit how good a view of the media mogul that anyone could get, while also allowing Cat the comfort of briefly seeing exactly where she was leaving her precious cargo for a few hours. It would work.

It had to work.

A tall body came up to her desk, leaning against it. She looked up to a similar set of lead-lined glasses covering another set of alien eyes.

Oh, right, she still needed to ask her cousin for the help. She figured it would be a do first, ask for forgiveness later sort of situation.

“Hey, Kal- er, Clark,” she said. He quirked a brow at the slip.

“Well someone’s distracted.” He looked around the room vaguely before looking back. “I assume it means you found someone to help with your silly charade?”

A smile peeked at the blonde’s lips. Before she could answer, she received a text. With a finger raised toward Kal to pause their conversation, she quickly opened the text under the newly changed contact name: Wifey. Her eyes scanned the message.

Wifey: _Kara Danvers. You are going to owe me big time for this._

Kara sucked in a deep breath. Cat must have arrived outside the massive corporate office and finally felt it sink in that she was really about to set foot in her arch rival business. Kara could feel Kal’s interest grow beside her without even turning her attention away.

Deciding to just to plow forward, she simply typed, _19 th floor. just look for us at the elevators. see you soon._

It was a few seconds before another biting text came through.

Wifey:   _I guess it’s at least some relief, for once, that the She-Devil has a higher position than editing. Won’t have to wash my eyes from seeing her._

Kara knew the older woman was just being bitter about the company itself, and not at her. She was just still so relieved that they had hashed out something to try to make the plan work, even if it meant shortening ‘Maggie’s’ participating role in the long run. At least Kara would get to see her...

She heard her cousin huff leaning over her shoulder. “Whoever this person is, that you have coming to parade themselves for your benefit, better not be referring to my fiancée as a ‘She-Devil’..” He cocked his head to the younger alien. Kara just laughed awkwardly.

“Oh you know my wife, _Maggie_ ,” she stressed while standing up and nudging his arm in a light manner. It caught the attention of a few nearby workers. “She’s always the kidder.”

Some people started to gather. Each seeming way too excited to finally get to see their Sunny Danvers’ family in the flesh. Honestly, Kara was surprised by the number of people who had amassed in the general vicinity. She must have talked way too high, way too often, with very little to show for it. Thank goodness she had opted out of having a Facebook, lest people try to friend her. Seriously, then what would she have done?

Cat and Kara’s quick exchange of ‘Ben’ was going to be fast and fool-proof, though. However, given the masses of people that were now giving her way too much attention, Kara was beginning to second guess the fact she had chosen such a well-known personality to act as her wife.

She lowered her voice to a whisper, knowing no one without super hearing could hear it. “Kal, I need you to do a favor. I sort of got a celebrity and her son to play the role and we need to hide her identity..”

His dark brows rose, not expecting that. “Seriously?” At her almost perfect nonchalant shrug, he chuckled and whispered back, “Well whoever it is, promise me an autograph.” He smiled. “So, how can I help, cuz?”

A few choice words from a familiarized voice suddenly entered her ears, distant but blatantly standing out in her current environment, and steadily coming closer floor by floor:

_“Now Carter, you are to be on your best behavior with Kara. You’ll get to do coloring and play some computer games. It will not be too long, and I will take you out for ice cream once I get back. You can call me at any time in case you need me and I will be here instantly.”_

_“Yes, Mommy.”_

At that, an elevator door pinged, interrupting her thoughts.

_Oh crap!_

“Just.. follow me!” she hissed.

Kara turned away and hurried around the desks and small cubicles, poorly concealing her speedy jog toward the elevators. She could hear her cousin hustling a few steps behind her at a similar pace.

Through the glass walls, she looked to the open vestibule containing elevators and stairwell. The elevator door opened up revealing the beautiful blonde woman, adorning her large sunglasses and dressed in a modest black suit with a loose white blouse. The curly haired brunette boy was hanging onto her hand while tugging at the sports jersey hem he was clad in. It was a football jersey, not basketball like the stock photo, but Kara supposed she was lucky that Cat could even distinguish what a sports jersey was in general.

Even though they were still so far apart, Kara saw Cat look her way, poking her blonde head out of the box to investigate the environment and immediately begin to deduce the most direct route to complete this insane task as quickly as possible. Kara was pretty sure she even saw a look of disdain evident in her expression, despite the distance and sunglasses covering a large portion of her petite face. The woman seriously was the epitome of intense, and it would have probably sent a shiver down her spine..but gosh darn it, the way Cat turned her nose up at some of the mounted articles hanging on the walls was pretty funny and endearing.

She was trying her hardest to contain her super speed once she realized Cat was making it a little too far into the vision line of the cubicle room. But it was fine. Kara was not even two seconds from getting out of the glass walled office and -

“Kara.” She nearly jumped out of her skin at the voice suddenly beside her, arm on her shoulder, catching her just shy of leaving the office bubble. She rapidly turned to the dark haired business woman, who was just an inch or so shorter than herself.

“Oh!” she fumbled, still in pure surprise. “H-Hi Miss Lane!” She glanced at an approaching Kal coming to stand beside the woman, apologetic look in his eyes and worried brow. She then glanced back to her boss. What kind of horrible timing was this? “Um, uh, what brings you down to 19?”

The CEO lifted a handful of papers toward Kara, assuming it was one of her latest stack of articles to revise. “Usually I send my assistant down, but Clark mentioned we were actually going to get to meet the family that we’ve all heard such wonderful things about, so I just had to come and..”

Kara watched as those dark eyes left her face, dragging over her shoulder simultaneously as her words trailed off. A few other workers similarly stared wide-eyed and began gaping. Even Kal now looked absolutely struck. Sucking in a breath, Kara had a pretty solid feeling, like 99.999% positive, about just what everyone staring at.

Lois collected herself, smiling misleadingly sweetly. “Do my eyes deceive me?” She stepped more into the doorway, getting a clearer view of the woman still in the empty atrium of the elevator area. “Why Kitty Cat, to what do I owe this surprise visit?”

Kara spun, just in time to see Cat lift her sunglasses. She met those two hypnotic, yet currently infuriated green eyes, only for a mere moment. She swallowed hard, knowing full well she completely messed up this plan.

Cat had crossed the threshold into the bullpen, now front and center of everyone’s attention.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Lane. Pleasure is not mine. Just seeing what you’ve done to this poor excuse for a company since your promotion.. Judging by this gaudy zone of sub-par pedestrians who you’ve corralled with your self-praise framed across the walls, it’s looking sad really.” As she motioned to the many best seller articles on the walls, published mostly by Lois Lane and Clark Kent, Cat blinked her eyes away from Lois’; this time, meeting baby blue ones. Judging by the older woman’s tense posture, Kara was absolutely certain that a well-devised excuse was forming on Cat’s tongue for her to up and walk right back out of the building. “Well, it’s been fun, Elder Lane. Excuse us, but my son and I are-“

“Mom!” shouted the young boy who was practically hiding at her side, previously totally unnoticed before the mention. Everyone’s attention was now drawn to the little boy, letting go of Cat’s hand and charging into the room toward Kara. He threw his arms around Kara’s tall legs and smiled goofily up at her.

The room was deathly silent as they watched the 6 year old's display of affection; one of family familiarity. Kara swallowed hard. She had to give props where they were due. This kid sure knew how to play his role. The reward of ice cream must be incredibly tantalizing. Cautiously, Kara lowered her hand to Carter’s shoulders, pulling him into a gentle hug.

Cat lifted a closed hand to her mouth as she uncomfortably cleared her throat. The simple gesture seemed to command the room instantly; unwanted attention and judging eyes drawn away from her precious, little boy. “As I was saying, my son and I are.. meeting Kara here.” She straightened herself into a confident posture, if not expressing significant annoyance, and immediately owned the role she was given. Cat Grant was anything if never in absolute control. Her chin rose up. “My wife.”

There were quiet whispers murmured in the now huge surrounding circle of co-workers. Even Kara felt swept up, surprised that Cat actually continued on with their ploy. Did she not care about the risks? The ramifications? Was she really doing all of this just for Kara’s sake?

Lois coughed uncomfortably, breaking the palpable unease in the room. “Um, your what..?”

Kal leaned into Kara’s ear, whispering so quietly that only Kara would have heard it the words regardless. “Seriously.. your celebrity was _Cat Grant?_ ”

Kara lowered her head bashfully and laughed, trying to disguise the nervousness yet doing a horrible job. Out of habit, she pushed her thick glasses up her nose before looking back up, doing her best to channel even the most minuscule amount of Cat’s unwavering self-assurance. After all, this _was_ Kara’s plan. She needed to own it just as much, if not more.

“Yeah,” Kara finally voiced since Cat’s arrival. She watched as Cat turned her full attention to her, and she practically felt the confidence now flood into her. She smiled, eyes remaining on that heart-shaped face, and her words tumbled out with a little chuckle. “Yeah. Um, I may have lied a little... My wife’s name is not _actually_ Maggie.”

Oh Rao, that felt amazing! She said the truth! Well, somewhat, at the very least. She had lied way more than just a little. But it was honest enough to let some of the weight lift from her guilt-ridden shoulders.

“That much is obvious,” she heard her cousin scoff lightly, loud enough for normal ears this time, although it was also amused. Kal’s dark haired fiancee still stood in astonishment.

Finally, Lois went to open her mouth after apparently finding something to say, but Cat spoke up, quite pleased to cut her off.

“Before you go about your undoubtedly poor interpretation of the situation, Lane, it was my idea to hide our relationship from the news as well as my identity with a pseudonym for Kara’s sake.” Cat folded her arms, taking a few powerful steps into the room; now the absolute center of attention. “We all know CatCo is a much better company. However, we did not want any boss-employee power dynamic going on.. though, I can’t say the same for _all_ of us, can I?” She lifted a finger toward Lois, indicating between her and Clark. She smirked as redness flushed their faces. “How is the Executive Office treating you since Perry’s sabbatical? I see your fiancé, Clark Kent, is the only other journalist name to make it onto your wall of sh.. _fame_.”

Dark eyes narrowed in annoyance. It made the tiny blonde just all the more pleased.

“Well, since _I_ , for one, despise the idea of nepotism in any form, Kara applied for jobs elsewhere during our time together. Including an eventual job application here.. much to my chagrin as you can imagine. We didn’t want our status to cause any _ruckus_ ,” she waved around the room, glaring at each cluster of wide-eyed people.

Kara nodded eagerly in agreement, stopping suddenly with wide eyes only to slowly shake her head when she saw her boss frowning at her.

Cat rolled her eyes, not missing the action; obviously displeased at how her nemesis could play the boss card on the young Millennial so easily. She stepped further once more, now within a meter between her and her faux wife, adding, “And our plan was going so well here for the last 5 years-“

Kara’s eyes widened and she coughed to cover the chronological error. “2..!”

Cat looked at her faux wife, and without missing a beat, merely rolled her eyes again with a dismissive look. “Well, it’s _felt_ like forever having to ignore the fact you report to this washed out excuse for an employer every day, who, by the way, does not appreciate that she’s missing out on having the best reporter that she could ever have stuck down here, editing articles.”

Kara’s heart skipped a beat and her chest felt tight, and the flush of her face only grew as Cat canted her hip and crossed her arms, directing and small but winning grin in her direction. Were this woman’s instincts truly as good as she boasted, or did she have some sort of telepathic superpowers of her own? Kara had dreamed of that position for years, but no one had ever voiced it, let alone to any superior. She nervously bit her lip, not sure how she was going to hide her flustered state now.

There was a sound of rolling chair wheels and the young blonde turned around. Carter had, at some point, let go of her legs, searched out Kara’s colorful desk, hauled himself up into Kara’s desk chair and was rolling it up to the high-set table top. He tried to reach for a red pen, about 4 inches out of his small range, so Kara rushed from the group to grab it for him. She handed him a few pieces of paper from her printer. She didn’t want him getting bored with the adult small talk and end up blabbing something else she wasn’t prepared for, but coloring would hopefully be a nice distraction.

“Here you go, my little Picasso,” she grinned, using the term which she had always referred to her imaginary son as.

The heavy thickness in the room seemed to be lightening ever so slowly as this event progressed and people were beginning to absorb the information that had been abruptly lobbed at them. It was around that time which Cat must have been fed up with the current situation, despite being someone who usually lived in the limelight. Given her somewhat dramatic history, Kara could assume dealing with the atmosphere of the Daily Planet building must be zapping Cat’s mental energy.

Cat sighed almost tiredly and sauntered over to her son, still scribbling on the desk with the young blonde editor standing over him. Ignoring the world around her, Cat let her hand affectionately run through his curly brown locks as she watched him adoringly.

Kara was hit with a familiar feeling; the same giddiness she had felt merely hearing Cat speak about her son while they were back at Noonan’s. Seeing their mother-son interaction occur in person was even sweeter than she could have imagined. She knew she was watching the two with a goofy grin and starry eyes. That alone must have sealed the deal of their little skit for most of the onlookers who ended up shrugging and going back about their jobs. Ever disappearing stragglers and her still disbelieving boss and cousin were the only remaining people at this point, taking additional time to absorb the information.

 Before the young blonde realized it, the petite business woman was looking up at her once again and Kara inhaled deeply. She wasn’t sure if she would ever get over her awe at how striking those forest green eyes were.

Now, Kara wasn’t exactly sure how to proceed at this point, but apparently, she needn’t be the one to worry. As it seems with most things in life, Cat Grant took the lead.

She leaned around Carter’s chair into Kara’s personal space bubble. So close. Kara’s eyes immediately dropped to familiar ruby painted lips as they moved. Just as she had the first time that they had met, Kara missed the beginning of Cat’s sentence and only caught up by the tail end; luckily still managing to understand what her counterpart was saying.

“..out time that I left. I’ve got a call with Olivia in 10 minutes.” Cat flippantly cast a shit-eating grin sideways to her journalist adversary, whose dark eyes were widening. “Marsdin? You may recognize her name.” Before Cat could continue her cocky bragging, or Kara could fathom the fact Cat was on a first name basis with the United States’ president, Cat’s undivided attention was once more turned upwards, locked on bright baby blues. “Darling, I’ll pick up our little Picasso later.”

Kara sucked her lips in trying desperately to fight the bashful smile as Cat owned their cover story to a perfect ‘T’. She failed miserably at keeping it cool, of course, probably red as a tomato and dorkier looking than ever. But she was met with a surprisingly soft smile from the smaller woman; a smile she had seen Cat give to Carter not even 15 minutes ago as they left the elevators. She had little time to question the change in expression as she was suddenly aware of Cat’s face coming towards hers.

The surprise caught her so off-guard, she hadn’t been able to gauge the direction that Cat was aiming: her cheek. Kara turned slightly, body automatically just following the movement, and ended up accidentally feeling those intoxicatingly glossy lips land soundly on her own.

Every nerve ending in her body twitched with a zing of energy coursing through her, as if she was reliving the emptiness of the Phantom Zone and only just feeling the first rays of Earth’s sun bathe her skin. If she lost any more of herself in the sensation, she’d surely begin to levitate from her grounded position. But seriously, it was more than she could have ever imagined, despite the disheartening brevity. No more than 2 seconds had passed as the Queen of all media retreated, albeit slowly, eyes fluttering open in an equally hesitant manner as Kara’s own. A flash of something akin to insecurity crept over Cat’s features, privy to only Kara, before melting back to practiced neutrality.

Kara, however, was not so well trained. No amount of super strength could stop her from plastering a stupidly beaming smile at the woman.

And, wait. Was that.. It couldn’t be. No, it totally was. There was actually a pink dusting forming over high-set, porcelain cheeks. Cat Grant, CEO of CatCo, Queen of all media, was blushing! Because of her! Kara almost pinched herself, because she either had to be dreaming or in heaven.

“Alright, alright already.” Having enough, Lois swatted her hand in the air, acting to shoe the two ladies apart. “Enough of this lovey dovey stuff. Get back to work..” She looked around at the remaining few workers and their (now much less doomy-gloomy) adolescents. “ _All_ of you.” Taking a glance at her dark haired fiancé, the brunette CEO smiled at her young employee. “Well, although I question your tastes on some levels, Kara, I can only hope that Clark and I will be as happy as you two obviously are one day.”

With that, the two blonde woman and oblivious child were finally left alone for the first time since the whole stunt began. There was a semi-awkward silence as the two processed what was said in conjunction with the physical connection that was shared barely a minute ago. Could Cat still be buzzing the same way that Kara was? Did she feel anything from it? The blood was still rushing in her ears, making it hard to concentrate, but Kara was certain there was a slight staccato to the older woman’s ever steady heart tempo.

Kara watched as Cat, for the first time since she’d arrived, Hell since the first time Kara had ever known of her, suddenly looked like she was at a loss for words. Being so, the small woman began to turn around in the direction which she’d first come.

With a burst of poorly concealed super speed, Kara’s hand shot out on autopilot and gently took hold of Cat’s lithe wrist. When green eyes caught hers, still surprised at the physical contact issue but, just as at the café, she allowed it from this young woman.

Mouth hanging open for a second, scrounging for words, Kara finally expelled in a rush of air, “Want to grab lunch later? I do owe you compensation after all. And there’s um.. a nice pizzeria down the block-”

A small voice cut her off, speaking for the first time since settling at the desk. “Pizza _and_ ice cream?!” The young boy spun in the chair, excitedly looking up at his mom. A wave of warmth came over Kara and butterflies fluttered in her gut at his excitement. She could only pray his mother would feel the same.

Her own buoyant grin was completely feeding off of the boy’s energy.

Cat slowly looked from the blushing but beaming Kara, down to her pride and joy’s hopeful and bright blue eyes, then to their still touching hands, before rising back up to the now growing anxious blonde. She sighed wistfully. With a gentle shrug, careful not to move Kara’s hand away just yet, she smiled at the absurdity of the situation and the conversation she was actually having in it.

“Yes, fine. Who am I to deny accompanying my son and wife to a nice meal?” Kara was pretty sure she could _definitely_ get used to that title coming from Cat’s mouth. “As for compensation... Mmm, I think it’s at least a start. But I’m sure I could think of some more things later..” Kara was also pretty sure that she would _never_ get used to the seductive drawl that Cat could effortlessly incorporate into her voice at any moment.

She sucked in a sharp breath as Cat raised a finely sculpted brow and quirked her lips up, happy that the implications were well received.

When Cat finally bid a last farewell, and Kara broke her longing gaze from the elevators, she sat down beside her stand-in son for the rest of Bring Your Child to Work Day. He continued to silently draw scribbles beside her as she tried to get at least some productive work done without distractedly daydreaming about their later faux-family outing.

“I hope you stay with Mom.” She startled, and then in shock, looked down at the First grader. His eyes were on the picture he was coloring, words quiet. “You’re nice and Mom’s more happy. So, stay.”

Although he never looked up to make eye-contact, Kara could feel the childlike innocence and sincerity within his words. A sting began to twinge behind her eyes. Even though his attention was occupied, too enthralled in the red marker he had just discovered, Kara still nodded from his side.

“I’d like that, Carter.”

She patted his head fondly as she saw a new text had come in from ‘Wifey’. Quickly reading the newest slandering nicknames the CEO had come up for Kara’s acting boss, Kara sent a laughing emoji back instantly in reply. Despite the whole experience being such a novelty, everything already felt so domestic and familiar between them. It was wonderful. She smiled widely.

 _I’d like that a_ whole _lot._


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I guess this story wasn't done with me just yet. So, I present a 4th chapter before the epilogue.  
> Thank you for all of the feedback! Please enjoy.

At the 1 o’clock lunch hour, Kara had merrily made her way out of The Daily Planet’s main lobby doors and into its expansive front plaza, hand-in-hand with her little guest star. There, standing across the red stone area, immediately tucking her cell phone into her side clutch, Kara watched as Cat speedily made her way over to them. The young boy squealed happily at seeing her and hugged his mom as she knelt in front of him, immediately starting to babble about his day.

The smaller blonde woman smiled warmly at the boy, glancing up toward the equally smiling Kara. When she stood upright again, holding the boy’s hand, she looked at Kara rather expectantly. “I assume he was good?”

A glowing grin lit up Kara’s face. “He was the absolute best, though you probably already know that.” Cat simply hummed affirmatively and then gave Kara an expectant look. Hopefully not seeming too eager, the taller woman nodded her head toward the direction of their destination restaurant. She was just so gosh darn super happy to see Cat again and get to spend what may as well be family time together.. but, it was also lunch time. She was _hungry_!

The niche pizzeria was not a far walk down the blocks, but Kara realized it was further than her stomach had been hoping for. Just before she pushed open the door, preparing to hear the usual loud jingle of an entrance bell, she was caught off guard as her stomach growled horribly loud. Both Grants eyed her in surprise and amusement.

“Wow. Did you eat _a lion_?” came the small boy’s question. The childlike innocence of his age was evident, but the uncanny sharpness bordering on sarcasm was the ultimate proof he was indeed his mother’s son.

Kara just blushed, hard, while eyeing the sidewalk, extending her hand to hold open the glass door for her guests.

Over the course of their little lunch at this equally little bistro, Kara learned several important things. First being that she must eat here way too often since the store owner looked so flummoxed when she only ordered 2 single slices for herself. But it was the other important things which she had learned that truly mattered.

She learned that Cat only ate margarita pizza, if she was going to eat pizza at all; that Carter could only have even number toppings on his pizza slices; that Carter became upset if his hands got dirty with sauce; and that Cat always carried sanitary wet-wipes in her purse, prepared at all times, to come to her son’s rescue. Okay, so these were arguably not exactly ‘important’ facts. However, while sitting with her head propped up by both palms as her elbows rested on the tabletop, Kara realized that she absolutely adored learning every dynamic about this family duo. She didn’t even bother to hide the stars twinkling in her eyes when Cat gave her a perplexed smile.

And, after all of that, Kara couldn’t stop beaming when Cat just stared at her incredulously, yet curiously, as she ordered a large waffle-cone with 4 scoops of ice cream. As those hazel eyes lingered, Kara distantly wondered if Cat was intensely scrutinizing her dietary habits, or, perhaps… Could Cat be cataloging this information, just in the same way that as she had been doing earlier? Regardless, Kara knew her smile wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Less than an hour later, happily satiated from her favorite pizzeria’s pineapple pizza and that ice cream mountain, as well as from her new collection of Grant knowledge, Kara stretched her arms over her shoulders. Bring Your Child to Work Day was annual and always expected to be a less productive day for the employees. As such, she did not feel very much pressure to get back to the office now that she actually had participated in it this year. Besides, the sunny day was way too beautiful and inviting to be stuck indoors.

Though, that was all icing on the cake compared to the wonderful company she was in.

Cat and Kara had taken up comfortably quiet residence on a wooden bench at Metropolis Central Park, enjoying each other’s companionship as Carter, cleanly wiped hands and all, climbed around the brightly colorful climbing gym.

She sighed, expelling a full breath of relief and happiness. Their plan had been ultimately successful, despite the few monkey wrenches that had been thrown in along the way. How such success was actually obtained.. well, who was she to look a gift horse in the mouth? Being out of the woods and finally into the clear felt so nice.

During her respite of reverie, Kara felt a buzz in her pocket. Removing the device, she saw there was a new message from Alex. She opened and read it carefully, brow creasing in confusion.

Alex: _Looks like my dear sister apparently does not listen to my worldly advice_

Kara: _ummm ok, why the random sass?_

Text bubbles instantly popped up following her question.

Alex: _You went through with Cat as your wife after all_

Something snapped; whether it was a squirrel on a twig, or just her internal grasp of calmness, Kara couldn’t be sure. How would Alex know that? Kara hadn’t updated her in the meantime. Was Alex psychic? Before Kara could further press her theory that the DEO was trialing some new telepathy gadget on Alex, said woman texted a website link next.

It took only milliseconds before Kara realized that the web address was to The Daily Planet’s online gossip column. Why would Alex send that? A nervous bubble began to rise in her stomach.

Even though she loved and trusted the Planet’s competence at reporting the best news in the city, the gossip column was well known to be just that: gossip. At worst, the articles were vile; at best, scandalous. She soon felt that nervous bubble burst and her heart drop down into its shattered remains the moment she read the headline, published just mere minutes ago.

**_Modern Media Romeo & Juliet: CatCo’s Cat Grant married to rival Daily Planet employee?_ **

Kara cursed a Kryptonian word under her breath as she quickly panned down the short 3 paragraphs, somewhat additionally aggravated at seeing the dramatic headline stealing hers and Alex’s reference to the situation.

So far, from what she could tell, the writing style was pure speculation; no direct quotes from current employees or sources. Luckily, no photos or videos were captured, or at least that were shared here.

 _Yet,_ her mind chided as her nerves spiked.

Cat was going to be so upset at this news. _Worse, she’s going to be upset with_ me _for convincing her to do all of this._

“Something the matter, Kara?” Cat asked, turning to face the younger woman who had tensed up considerably.

Her usually tall held head dropped in a shameful display, handing the phone over to the CEO. “I’m so sorry Ms. Grant.” With her eyes downcast, she missed the shocked expression Cat sent her at the sudden name formality.

Wanting to get to the bottom of Kara’s abrupt change in demeanor, and sudden choice of elevating Cat’s status by title, Cat all but snatched the phone and read the online gossip article. Beside her, Kara just shook her head in apology and began a tirade of uncontrolled rambling.

“I can’t believe someone posted this. My floor is just editing, no writers or reporting! And there are no sources provided, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t get through the grape vine..”

Cat gave a snapped interjection, incredulous raise of her brow. “Really, Kara? Really? You didn’t happen to notice that Lois Lane was there when I arrived? She may not have published a real story, but I can recognize her prose anywhere. That woman loves to plant speculative seeds for her readers.” Her tone was knowing, almost wise to the situation, meaning she was well familiarized by this action coming from her rival.

Kara nearly swore again (in English this time) at her naivety. No matter how much she liked her cousin’s fiancée, she should have known the moment that Lois saw Cat that everything was going to change. She just hadn’t imagined at this scale.

Kara looked at her hands in disbelief. “I never expected this lie to go this far, and now I’ve totally wrapped you up in it. I’m an idiot. I know it’s just gossip, but I never meant to tarnish your reputation and.. and, oh goodness, I didn’t even think of your reputation! I am so so _so_ sorry-“

“-Breathe,” Cat spoke firmly, pinching the bridge of her nose; the act and word making Kara stop instantly, looking to the older woman. “God, you’re going to give me a headache with all these sappy feel sorry for yourself woes.” She handed the smartphone back to the taller blonde.

Kara just blinked, too embarrassed and remorseful to say anything. She had never felt so small beside the petite woman. She watched as Cat waved her hand flippantly in the air.

“Goodness, you work for the newspaper. You of all people should know gossip columns are the least reputable.” She leaned back on the bench. “Lois is merely stirring the pot.”

Kara stiffened. “Yeah, but if anyone had a secret recording or photo of our interaction.. or even hacked into the floor’s security cameras, they could easily back this article up-“

“-Then let them.” Kara’s mouth snapped shut as she stared wide-eyed. “You know, there was gossip that Harrison Ford and I were having an affair after the Star Wars movie came out,” the Media mogul said with an amused smirk. “They called it a romance in the stars, with quite beautifully photoshopped images accompanying the articles. His wife was not amused.” Cat looked distantly out to the playground, checking in on her son as she did. “But the whole rumor fizzled down after a month once the truth came out.”

Kara knew the referenced headline very well. The Daily Planet published a follow-up interview exclusive with his wife, Ms. Flockhart, for her reaction to the faux story. But that was totally different from what was going on now. Everyone who was involved back then was already a public figure, known to the media and masses. They all had real, true alibis. 

Sky blue orbs looked down sadly. She let out a sigh. “The truth..” The older woman looked back to Kara as she breathed the words out. “It all comes back to my stupid lie. It’s the universe telling me that this whole thing won’t blow over until I come clean.” Her voice firmed up as she buckled down on herself. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect your image.”

Cat scoffed. “My image is impeccable.”

Kara smiled, just barely though. “I won’t argue with you there.” She placed her hands on the wooden edge of the bench, grounding her in the spot. “But _I_ don’t want to be the reason people could even potentially judge you. You.. you deserve so much better than that!” A humorless laugh barely passed her lips with nearly inaudible words entwined in it. “Definitely better than me.” Her eyes had focused in on a small, aged dandelion across the sidewalk, blowing gently in the breeze.

There was silence for a stretch of 20 seconds. Kara didn’t dare look away as the puffed plant slowly began to lose its seeds into the winds, fluttering into the air. She was waiting for Cat’s agreement; for her to tell Kara what her cousin and her sister (and _conscience_ ) had been telling her for two years now: Come clean already!

The words never came, though. Instead, similar to their conversation back at Noonan’s, Cat interjected a new line of dialogue.

“You know, lunch and dessert were _okay_ today. Definitely paid Carter back for his time,” she said with flippant appreciation. She turned her head over her shoulder to look at the slouched young woman, still staring blankly ahead in her self-inflicted misery. “But don’t think it covers your payment for _my_ troubles.” Kara blinked, breaking her gaze from the now near barren dandelion, turning to face the fairer haired blonde.

Wait.. What? Where on Earth was Cat going with this? Kara moved her lips, trying to verbalize the question, any sound really, but nothing came out. She ended up relying on the crinkle in her brow and bemused look in her now brightening blue eyes to convey her confusion.

The CatCo CEO shrugged a single shoulder beneath her turned chin, eyes leaving Kara’s to roll up toward the sky in apparent consideration. Her lips pursed; demeanor, coy. “I think a dinner, or two, would be an acceptable payment. Carter’s spending the next two weeks with his father, and I have some free evenings.. and a private jet, so..” Hazel eyes slowly slid back to their corners, eyeing Kara without fully facing her.

At the not so subtle implication, the addressed woman sucked in a surprised breath, holding it for probably way too long for any human. But her heart was fluttering terribly; as if it, too, had flown away into the breeze, soaring high into the clouds with the dandelion spores. Pink cheeks glowing under the shade of the trees, Kara sputtered, “You-you mean.. for, like.. a real..?”She couldn’t help the cheek splitting grin. “Golly! That’s- that’d be, wow! You, uh-”

“-Christ, I really hope your dinner conversation is more articulate than this,” Cat spoke, frowning. “Don’t make me regret my choice of compensation.”

Kara’s shoulders jumped, turning her whole body toward the suit-clad woman. “Oh, I won’t!” She cleared her throat, scratching her neck lightly out of apprehension and wonderment. She tried her hardest to keep it cool. “Sorry, this is just a lot to process.. I mean, I’m so incredibly..” _Happy?_ _Ecstatic? Joyous? Astounded?_ “..flattered.”  Cat scrunched her nose at the word choice and Kara grimaced, noting her semantic faux-paux immediately. _You already were stuck in the Phatom-Zone, Danvers. Don’t you dare get stuck in the Friend-Zone too!_ “A-and what I meant by that is.. I’m totally beyond the moon!” she uncontrollably gushed.

Cat gave her a lidded look, eyes keen with a small quirk to her lips. “You are _beyond_ the moon, huh?”

Eyes widened behind thick black glasses, catching and correcting herself as she much too often found herself doing. “Ah, you know.. the expression, here. On Earth.” She snorted, actually snorted, a laugh at herself while internally berating herself. _Kara, you’re as smooth as sandpaper sometimes._

The older woman mused, friendly gaze locked on Kara’s uncomfortable face, “The turn of phrase, here on Earth as you oh so poetically put it, is actually ‘over the moon’.”

“Ah, yes well.. just.. just trying to work on my creativity.” She continued smiling awkwardly, gesticulating with her hands absently before grounding them again on the bench’s lip. Floundering under the piqued gaze, she tried to move the conversation on. She exhaled, trying to make her hopefulness stay in check with reality. “S-so.. Um. You.. really don’t mind, though? About us? Going out on a.. wh-what about your reputation? If.. if the rumors catch on, then if any journalist sees us together..”

“Let them report what they will.” Her voice was challenging but confident; self-assured for whatever come what may. “As for my reputation, we’ll just make sure you aren’t wearing something that screams you wear labeled Sunday through Saturday underwear.”

A hot blush spread over the taller blonde’s face. “I do not!”

“Oh thank God,” was quietly muttered out of the corner of Cat’s mouth, containing more relief than Kara would have liked. She really needed to upgrade her wardrobe.

“But you have to realize, too.. Y-you’re _Cat Grant_. And I’m just..”

“Yes, yes. Extraordinarily Average Kara Danvers.” A look of amused interest danced in those green orbs, shining like the stars actually located beyond the moon. Cat lightly placed a hand over Kara’s own, still gripped tightly to the bench. “The woman who has somehow been a better fake spouse in a single day than my 4 ex-husbands were in the last two decades combined.” She smiled cheekily, knowing that her choice of words would stun her counterpart into a stupefied silence.

Cat stood then on impulse, not even looking but somehow knowing her son was starting to come bounding over to them. The fact Kara had yet to stand up likely indicated her mind was still buzzing from her lasting comment. So Cat took the time to kneel to her son’s short stature.

“Mom, I’m thirsty,” he mumbled unhappily. His mom nodded and pointed toward the park entrance.

“There’s a water fountain a little ways down there. Let’s go.” He smiled at her, and then looked up at her side. It meant that Kara had finally made her way back over to their happy little family cluster. Smiles, all of varying degrees, appeared across each of their faces as the group headed out.

After a few steps, the taller woman lifted her head, smiling toward the sky. In a wistful voice, she muttered almost disbelievingly, “I can’t believe how everything’s turning out. All just starting with my hopes to get out of work early here and there for pediatric appointments, and now..” She shrugged, bashfully looking to the far side, away from Cat. “This whole lie turned out better than I could have ever thought.”

There was a gentle hum acknowledged beside her. Kara looked back at that sound, immediately curious as to what could possibly be going through the brilliant woman’s mind. “And who knows,” Cat finally mused aloud, voice easy, while watching Carter running ahead of them toward the water fountain. “Maybe, one day, your story won’t even be a lie anymore.”

Kara tilted her head, unsure of what to make of Cat’s remark. “How could it not..?” The breathy, incredulous laugh and shake of a fair haired blonde head did not go unnoticed.

“Of course, if it were to progress to that point, the first thing to go would be that plain silver band you insist on wearing,” she blazed right on through their conversation, choosing not to be as blunt as usual, almost amused by the young woman’s cluelessness. “God knows if the media will have us on the front covers, I couldn’t have you wearing a ring that was anything less than platinum.” She gently played with the decorative jewelry dawning her own fingers. “And a diamond. Flawless, 14 karats.”

What? Diamond? A ring? As in-

Oh.

_Oh._

Now she got it.

Somehow encompassing both mortification and stupefaction in perfect unison, the clumsy woman stumbled in her flats, despite the evenness of the park’s asphalt path and her graceful ability to hover.

The shorter woman never broke her stride forward, quite evidently pleased with the reaction she had generated.

It took the younger of the two a moment to gather herself before she jogged back up to Cat’s side. She was still too timid to reply to that particular allusion, so she just pleasantly laughed, unable to quell the blazing fire from spreading to her ears. Her hands tightly clasped in front of her, trying her best to contain the giddiness she felt without appearing _too_ interested in the hypothetical topic. Were her feet even still on the ground?

Cat took the behavior in stride, tilting her head from side to side, still seemingly amused by the subject. “You know,” she said in thought. “This whole thing would actually make for a much better and amusing story of _us_ than the boring yoga studio thing you made up.”

Now that was certainly something Kara could easily agree with. She nodded, excited at even the hypothetical prospect of this ever happening. She cautiously reached her hand toward Cat’s own, taking it gently between her fingers. When Cat reciprocated with a gentle squeeze, Kara licked her lips and chuckled.

“Apparently honesty really is the best policy.”

“You believe that?”

Kara paused to think but smiled assuredly; confident eyes looking forward as if staring into the approaching future. “Definitely.”

A beat.

“I’m going to hold you to that,” Cat said mischievously. That brought Kara’s eyes down to her. “So,” she began again, now knowing she had Kara’s full attention. “How did you _actually_ knock that bolted down table out of the floor at Noonan’s?”


	5. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Sorry for the severe delay! I've had so much fun with this story and hope you've enjoyed it as well. Now, on to the final summation. 
> 
> (Note of advice: do not write fanfics about getting married while you, yourself, are dealing with setting up your own wedding or the stress will totally dim your passion for writing about it hah! )

The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. The Friday morning outside was already bright and warm, seemingly filled with all the perfect weather clichés at once. The prospects of an equally as gorgeous weekend were in the forecast as well. Kara could not ask for anything better. A melodic, whistled tune blew through her perfectly puckered lips as she merrily waved to the familiar faces of her coworkers, weaving her way through the various computer desks in the Planet’s largely glass-walled bullpen.

She reached her desk, setting down her leather satchel and tucking it away under her desk before wheeling herself up to the desktop; basking in the sunlight’s rays as they streamed through her portion of the window. She fiddled with some pens and sorted some loose papers, making sure everything was in clean order for her typical workday.

At least, her rather new type of ‘typical’ day; that is, ever since she had started as a Junior Reporter. All the way up on floor _24_ , she might add. She had never expected to see a difference in her window view by just elevating five floors, especially given her ability to do such massive elevation climbs while flying, but something had to be said about getting a promotion. Her overall spirits must have made the increasing Metropolis cityscape view all that much more amazing.

Finally, finishing her work prep, she slightly turned the photo framed next to her computer, pulling it a little more into her view. Doing so caused the sunlight striking the glass to add a sparkle effect. Totally brilliant. She smiled softly down at the small old picture frame, originally home to a photoshopped stock photo of some anonymous kid for almost 2 years.

Now, thankfully, that fake photo was replaced by a real one containing her, Cat and Carter; each one of them looking upright toward the ceiling as Kara had stretched her long arm up to snap the perfect family selfie. Kara knew that Cat disliked the simplicity of it, especially when Kara had told her it now decorated her work desk. The mogul said that it was not something one would usually put on public display. That opinion didn’t stop Kara from making a duplicate of the picture tucked into a similar frame and giving it to Cat, if by the off chance the CEO wanted to decorate her own immaculate desk at CatCo (Kara was 100% certain it was there, whether on display or just tucked away in her top desk drawer for safekeeping).

Of course, Cat being Cat, had made them get professional portraits done a few weeks ago; the type that Cat considered more appropriate to mount on the walls of her National City penthouse.

_No, Kara_ , she mentally shook her head with a smile as she subconsciously caressed the outside of the tiny frame. _Our penthouse_.

Sure, Kara continued to rent out her tiny studio here in Metropolis to continue with her job at The Daily Planet under the guise both women had set-up. However, a simple up, up, and away had her able to arrive in National City in under 15 minutes during a comfortably leisure flight. This was all hidden from the media’s knowledge, of course (Cat may have gotten the alien’s confession by their third date through needlessly subtle hinting and Kara’s weak resolve to a Cat-puppy face, however, the rest of world needn’t know of the alien hiding in plain sight). But, more often than not, Kara would spend her evenings, blurring into early mornings, and weekends in the glorious penthouse.

The day Cat had handed over a personal key was when they began to refer to the place as belonging to both of them; opening a new level to their blossoming relationship a few months in.

But goodness! The last 9 months with Cat had been a whirlwind of the most wonderful, buzzing, warm, head spinning, and wrap-yourself-in-a-winter-sweater-cuddled-with-hot-chocolate-and-love kinds of emotions.

Unfortunately, it was the additional hurricane of flashing light bulbs, wordy interviews, nosey reporters, and above all else, seeing her life and face plastered across all media outlets at least once a day which drove her absolutely batty! Those speculative seeds that had been planted in the Planet’s gossip column had bloomed into quite the garden of interest, with fruit ripe for the media’s picking. At the very least, such media coverage had died down as the months wore on and the public’s interest was waning; waiting for the next big story to appear. Kara never thought she would be so thankful to only see hers and Cat’s faces on the tiny corner of jam-packed magazines _maybe_ once a week.

Cat had been so wonderful about the media storm, though. Kara knew the mogul worked for a news outlet, was well versed in managing said media, and had the passionate heart of a reporter herself. However, there was a huge difference between reporting actual newsworthy topics and chasing the reality TV-like gossip glamour of the superstars for the general public to live vicariously through.

Through it all, she protected Kara as much as possible, shielding her from too much onslaught of the hungry journalists, much like she did with her son. The woman was downright ruthless when it came to defending the ones that she loved; something Kara had suspected since first hearing Cat talk about Carter, but, as with many things regarding Cat Grant, experiencing the woman’s fierce protection firsthand had left her in awe.

“Hey Kara!” She looked up from her family photo, not even realizing that she had gotten so lost in her happy reverie. She looked up at the red-head who she had worked with for ages down in editing. Freckled arms leaned over the top of Kara’s half-height cubicle wall.

“Kelly!” the blonde said, ecstatic. She stood and ran around to hug her old colleague. “How are you?” She stepped back, smiling.

“Good. Just delivering the message of how we are all totally missing you down on 19,” she said with a soft, but silly smile. “And, also.. The other week when you dropped off some articles, we all noticed the.. well, you know..” Bubbly grin breaking out over her face, Kelly raised her left hand and indicated toward the ring finger.

Kara’s eyes widened quite comically as her cheeks flared red, complimenting her baby blues.

Oh.

Right.

That.

Yeah. So, that was one more little, itty-bitty thing that had happened just about 4 weeks ago.. under the full moon.. out on Cat’s balcony.. with an adorable, nervous as Hell looking Queen of All Media down on one knee.

With that pretty rosy flush now dusting Kara’s cheeks, she let out a breathy laugh. With her right hand, she rubbed the back of her neck, extending the left hand toward the shorter woman. Kelly grabbed it instantly, eyes dropping to the large sparkling rock decorating the alien’s hand.

The other girl let out a stunned gasp. “Holy smokes! That’s got to be the most expensive ring I’ve ever seen! This has to be like 12 karats!”After inspecting the large center stone and the multiple encrusted diamonds coating the rim, she looked up.

Kara tried her hardest to not smile like a dopey love-sick sap, but paired with her flushed face and her embarrassing racing heart, it was near impossible to school everything about her facial expression. “Um.. well.. actually 14..”

At the mumbled reply, Kelly let out a whistle. “Wow girl!” She smiled brightly in sincere amazement before tilting her head. “I guess we were all curious as to why all of a sudden you were wearing it.”

Still blushing at the unexpected attention, Kara collected her thoughts. She knew the drill by now when it came to her fibs.  She searched her brain for the rehearsed dialogue which she had made up specifically for this question. “Um, well Cat and I actually decided to renew our vows this weekend.. And since, you know, we’re ‘out’ now, I decided that I’d start wearing my engagement ring openly… to commemorate the day.” She caught herself, hurriedly. “Er, _again_.”

She watched the freckled girl look at the ring, then send her that curious look again, and then dropped her eyes back to the ring. There was a pensive look in her eyes. Kara gulped. She hated scrutiny. Were her hands starting to sweat?

“Hmm. I guess that makes sense why you wore that simple silver band all of this time instead.” Finally, her hand was released from its examination. Kara exhaled an emotionally heavy breath as quietly as she could, hoping it would be largely unnoticed. “With a ring like _this_ , I guess people may have questioned you a bit more about your wife back then.”

A moment later, the young red-head was excusing herself to let them get back to work. But she paused after the two exchanged goodbyes.

“By the way,” she said turning back briefly. “We’re having a little luncheon next week, and were hoping you’d come down and tell us all about life on the front line. And, your vow renewal too! For once, maybe _Editing_ could get the exclusive!” Her vivacious attitude relaxed Kara immensely and she eagerly agreed.

Of all the people Kara had worked with, Kelly had been one of the more friendly faces among the group. Her energy kept the entire team afloat even on days where their old boss had put them through the ringer. Golly, she really missed all of the people on the editing team. They definitely knew her the best.. even if she still hid behind her little, tiny, minuscule lie in front of them.

“Of course, I’d love to!” Suddenly, she felt the phone in her pocket begin to buzz. She took it out, checking the name and smiled, now curious. She apologized to Kelly, with one lasting assurance she’d come down to visit her old team.

Quickly extracting herself from the bullpen in the quiet, mousey manner she was always able to accomplish, Kara answered the phone call, pressing the electronic device to her ear. “Maggie? What’s up?”

_“Hey Kara,”_ the dark-haired woman said over the receiver. _“Just wanted to let you know that I finally got my official card. Everything is a go from my end.”_

The blonde woman sucked in an excited breath. “Wow, so it’s really official? _You’re_ official?” Kara asked her sister-in-law in a squealing voice.

The young detective chuckled and casually assured her usually eccentric family member. _“Yes. Told ya it’d be just in time for the wedding. No need to worry.”_

With a grin and a hand placed over her heart, Kara hurriedly expressed her gratitude. “You don’t know _how_ much it means that you got ordained just for us.”

It had been a discussion that needed to be tread on carefully. Although the happy couple was going to be using the pretense of a vow renewal, someone was still going to need to officiate the wedding and the marriage for the legal purpose. Anyone outside of the loop of the situation was a potential risk of exposing the well-hidden lie. Cat may know a friend at City Hall, but she hadn’t kept ties from the JP’s at her previous weddings.

Luckily, the petite detective had offered the idea and her willingness to participate.

There was another light chuckle. _“Just call me Reverend from now on, and we’ll call it even.”_

Kara thanked her again before saying their goodbyes and heading back into the fray of another day’s work; one which she had seriously been delaying with all of the distractions on her mind. But could anyone blame her?

She had begun to log in to her desktop, preparing to transcribe an audio recording that she’d obtained yesterday out in the field, when her office phone rang.

“Hello, this is Kara,” she answered after a ring, tucking the plastic receiver into her shoulder whilst opening and naming a new document on the computer. Then she paused while mid key-stroke. “Right now?” She turned in her chair, hand now clutching the phone again. “Y-yes, be right there Ms. Lane.” Carefully, she hung up the phone, staring at it for a few seconds.

A meeting with her acting boss was totally not what she was hoping for. Not after what she’d experienced over the last few months, at least.. But especially not the day before her wedding.

A bit of a sweat broke out over her skin as she shakily stood, absentmindedly rubbing her thumb over her glittering ring. She spun the ring around so only the slim band was visible; the eye-catching stone tuck against her palm. She took a steadying inhale and then headed to the elevators.

-

The Millennial reporter cautiously poked her head into the large glass-walled office on the top floor. It reminded her so much of Cat’s own office at CatCo, if not a few square feet smaller, and minus about 4 TV screens along the side wall. She hadn’t even been able to lay her eyes on the dark-haired woman before the CEO was up and walking around her center desk.

“Kara! Please come in!” she called with a smile and wave.

Pushing her thick glasses up her nose, Kara took a breath and stepped inside, praying that this meeting would be better than all of the others they’d shared since she and Cat had gotten together. She didn’t need a thinly veiled interview.

The most recent time she had been in here, as well as quite a number of times prior, was related to their relationship; what their interests were, what vacations they took, how it felt being the ‘Romeo & Juliet’ story of the media.. As Cat had explained, she hated nepotism in any form. Somehow, that also translated to her refusing to use her own CatCo empire to cover their personal life. Understandably, so. Unfortunately, that left them at the mercy of the rest of the world. Kara believed that at least providing factual information to the Planet reduced any risk of scandalous rumors being generated. She wasn’t sure she would be able to live through anything like that.

She quickly began to wrack her brain of anything that could potentially be newsworthy; anything new that her and Cat had been up to that may have triggered Lois’ interest. Nothing was coming to mind though. Well, nothing which the greater public was aware of at least. They’d been keeping an incredibly low profile over this last month, even with all of Cat’s spectacular, yet disguised wedding planning. Only a super sleuth would be able to figure it out.

Which was why facing down the star journalist, Lois Lane, right now was making her gut twist.

She watched the older woman slide her slim-framed glasses down, letting them dangle between her fingers as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the desk.

“Kara, I know this is terribly overdue and I do not expect any response from you, but I do want to fully apologize for putting you and Cat through so much press time these past months.” She stared directly across to the blonde girl. Though hit with a mild surprise, Kara could see how Lois’ dark eyes looked absolutely sincere. “I cannot emphasize how much we at the Planet appreciate having gotten so many exclusives with you.. _both_ of you.”

“I-it’s okay, Ms. Lane,” she mumbled, blushing and rubbing the toes of her flats together. She couldn’t hold the gaze and awkwardly looked around. “Was..was that all?” she asked after a bit of silence. Eventually, her eyes did make it back to her boss.

Lois smiled kindly in such a way that Kara was sure it was what made Kal fall head-over-heels in love. “I wanted to check on how you were adjusting to the new position. I’ve already read your first article and it was very impressive.”

Kara perked up at that, blinking. “Oh! Th-thank you! Yes, I love the job!” She beamed. “Thank you so much for the opportunity!”

“Well, as much as I hate admitting it, Cat was not wrong in her assessment. I’m glad I listened to her.” Dark eyes watched the timid but gleeful smile pucker at Kara’s lips. Lois chuckled, tilting her head pointedly at her employee. “Don’t tell her that though. That woman would never let me live it down.”

Kara nodded quickly, knowing her soon to be wife would be ecstatic to lord that over Lois for years to come. Yet Kara didn’t exactly want to risk hearing the gloating at every dinner conversation either, so she was very honest in her promise. “Mum’s the word. _Trust me_.”

The blonde’s boss smiled again. After a beat of silence, Kara glanced at the glass clock on the wall, catching the time. Hurriedly, she motioned over her shoulder. “Oh. There’s a deadline. I, uh, should be-“

“Kara, wait,” the dark-haired woman asked abruptly just after Kara had spun her body, making an attempt to step out. She turned her blonde head over her left shoulder and looked back carefully. Much like Kelly had done barely an hour earlier, Lois raised her own pale hand; one which adorned an engagement ring that Kara had actually helped Kal pick out 2 years ago. She could feel the prickle at her neck as her boss silently tapped her own ring while looking toward Kara’s hand. _Why’s she bringing up.. What? Wait. No.._ “Is that an engagement ring I spy there?”

That was when Kara looked down to her arm and realized the stone of her ring was visible from her palm. Her foolproof spinning ring trick was busted. _Seriously?!_ She should have put it in her pocket. Why didn’t she put it in her pocket!

“Uh, y-yeah,” she said with a high tipped voice. Her super senses were so overridden that she floundered a step back realizing that Lois Lane had practically manifested in front of her, grabbing her hand to exam the piece of fine jewelry in much the same fashion as any person would. But Kara could see the absolute scrutiny in her keen eyes. All the blonde could do now was wait this out and hopefully make it out of this coming conversation alive.. Or she could simply fly away and escape it, but that was another issue completely. _Choose your battles, Danvers.._

The dark haired woman hummed curiously, finally letting Kara’s hand free. “I’ve never seen you wearing such a thing. Its brilliance is eye-catching, I’m sure I didn’t miss it..” Her brow raised in trained interest and.. something else? Kara hated how intense all the reporters that she knew could be, even when conducting the simplest of interviews (or interrogations, because that’s what this felt like).

The young woman had to search for all of her super strength and confidence, culling it from both her Zor-El bloodline and Danvers upraising. She swallowed, heavily, praying her voice would not sound meek as she covered with the same story she had given to all the others. “Wha.. Hah, this old thing?” she gushed in trained dismissal, waving her hand flippantly. Hell, forget Zor-El and Danvers. She was going to channel straight up Grant confidence! “We’re just renewing our vows tomorrow. Wearing the old ring for, you know, memory’s sake.. Since we don’t have to hide anymore..?”

The dark-haired woman looked mildly surprised. “I’m surprised you didn’t take any time off to go to your venue. It must be exotic. No doubt Cat does everything extra.”

Kara felt her cheeks redden and a small giggle escaped her lips amidst her anxiety. It was the truth. “Heh, well yeah.. But we’re just going to the park. It’s.. simple. No time off needed!” She stood there, squaring her shoulders, hoping she didn’t look _too_ uncomfortably tense. Wistful hope indeed, but after several excruciatingly long seconds, her boss conceded.

“Well, then have a wonderful weekend.” She smiled, adding what was close to playful addition to her voice. “I may be pulling your leg for an exclusive come Monday, though..”

Kara fought the groan in her throat, knowing that she was always given every chance to decline all of her interviews, but would more than likely agree in the end out of sheer politeness. Still, she smiled regardless. “Understood, Ms. Lane.” At least she was free from this Hell of a conversation.

Monday was far enough away for her to push aside any worries. There were only a few more hours of work to push through and her dream weekend would finally be here!

-

Dressed in her favorite blue button-up and comfort-fit navy ankle pants, Kara was practically skipping down the street early that Saturday morning. Her arms were securely wrapped around the dry cleaning bag which safely housed her princess-like puffed dress; protected against any specs of dirt wishing to taint the beautiful white satin fabric and decadent sequin crystals sewed through the bodice. She also knew that she had to be careful about the giddy pep in her step, because she caught herself, at least two times, hopping up and forgetting to make the physical reconnection with the ground. But, come on! Could anyone blame her?

_I’m getting married today!_ The sing-song inner monologue continued through her head in melodic repetition as she approached her tiny apartment.

Everything was falling perfectly into place. The plan was simple. Their family and friends had arrived either yesterday or today, with Cat and Carter flying in this morning. Everyone would be meeting at Metropolis Central Park by late afternoon. Alex was arriving at her apartment soon to help her with hair and makeup, and last minute details. Said sister had _also_ told Kara that she wanted to make sure that if the zipper snags, or gives them any trouble whatsoever, she’d rather be the one to work on it. Kara had only rolled her eyes at the older Danvers’ insistence. Sure, both had learned the hard way not to struggle against a stuck zipper with super strength, but come on! Alex _eventually_ forgave her for ruining her older sister’s dress the night of her Senior Prom.

Just as she rounded the block to her apartment’s entrance, Kara heard a beeping. She stopped still, recognizing the noise not by its familiarity, but actually of its infrequent use. She looked to her specialized watch, seeing the House of El insignia pop up. Her sky blue eyes widened beneath her lead-lined glasses.

_Kal.._

She hurriedly answered the call, stepping to the side corner of the brick building as she opened the wireless connection to her Bluetooth. Superman’s contact device was for emergency purposes only. In all her time even having worn it, she was only called upon once and that was for her cousin to crash (literally, as her broken window would have once attested to) at her apartment in the midst of a bad attack. But that was nothing.

_“..Kara?”_ came the voice over the digital device. There was a roughness in his voice and crackling static in the background.

“Kal? What’s wrong?” she replied, trying her hardest to make out the message despite her amazing hearing ability. It was just so muffled, signal cutting in and out.

_“I.. d your hel…. telite..-“_ And then there was silence as the call dropped. Kara’s eyes widened. Whatever unclear content that message had contained, she knew she had to do something.

She dashed to the side alley of her apartment, flying up to her balcony windows. Quickly, she tossed the dress bag onto her couch before dashing back out and into the sky, all under two seconds.

The immediate horizon line looking clear, she removed her glasses to scan the city with her X-ray vision. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. Finally, as she drifted, she closed her eyes and focused on a familiar heartbeat. Kal’s was the easiest of all heartbeats to locate given the irregularities of a Kryptonian heart compared to that of a human. In an instant her head was brought to the heavens, eyes scanning the clouds.

She gritted her teeth and shot herself up toward the atmosphere, eyes having located her target.

Crashing through the highest level of the clouds, Kara saw Superman fighting hard against a massive space satellite coming down, hurtling toward the city. The flames licked against the metal frame, heating the usually cool air. The noise was terrible, howling as the satellite pushed through the atmosphere.

Kara could see her cousin straining against the pressure. She flew beneath the object and latched onto the base, a few meters from the man. She immediately began pushing against the object, grunting as the full weight of it practically crashed into her body; the sudden recoil reverberating from the force was almost alarming.

“Nice to see you cuz!” shouted Kal through the wind.

The blonde woman smirked, barely catching a side look of the city’s most renowned superhero. “Same, though I wish the circumstances were different.” She tried to ignore the way her hair smacked and whipped against her slowly blistering cheeks.

Over the roar of the noise, Kara was able to make out her cousin’s instructions on how to proceed. Adjusting her exertion in synchrony with the other Kryptonian, slowly, but surely, she felt the object begin to ease atop of her shoulders. On his call, the duo changed their pressure dynamics and pushed back off into the air. Together, they sped up, rising into the upper atmosphere.

Kara felt her muscles pumping, the resistance becoming less, similar to the diminishing oxygen saturation which she was sucking into her heaving lungs. On Kal’s call, the two superhumans gave one last huge push, sending the satellite vaulting back into cold space as they, themselves, pulled back, quickly flying back into the safety and warmth of the Earth’s gravitation.

Heavily exhaling, staring up at the slowly disappearing machinery, Kara finally let out a whooping cheer, eyes turning excitedly to her last blood relative. “That. Was. Amazing!”

The man grinned, nodding. As they began a decent back down, the brunette turned his head. “Thank you for coming and helping out,” he said earnestly. “That thing was just a little too heavy and I wasn’t alerted until it had picked up just a bit too much momentum.”

“I know you’d have made it work like you always do,” she said with a smirk and light bump of their shoulders. “But, I’m happy to help!”

Her beautiful home city of Metropolis came more into view. Kara smiled looking out and over it, taking a moment to bask in the rays of the day’s still early light. She inhaled deeply and then exhaled calmly; it was a huge difference than their struggles of 5 minutes ago. Her cousin turned in question, making sure that the event had not overwhelmed his family too much.

Kara just smiled, shaking her head to dismiss his concern. “It looks so different during the daylight.”

She had a second more of admiration allowed before she felt her cousin pull her away. Only then did Kara notice the tiniest of flickering lights, unable to be seen by a human eye, coming from the ground. Lights.. no, cameras..? Superman.. paparazzi?! _Oh no!_ In a panic, while simultaneously being pulled by her flying cousin, Kara’s hands flew to her face. Uncomfortably, she smacked against her barren cheeks and eyes. Where were her glasses?

Wait, when she took them off she put them… where? Oh, in her shirt.. That’s right. Hand grasping the precious object that somehow did not get lost in the mayhem, she let out a sigh of relief. Finally able to collect herself, she spun and continued flying side-by-side with the Man of Steel, hurrying to seek a more secluded area.

“So, I know that later today you’re wearing white,” said the superhero as they landed discreetly on a private roof-top in Kara’s neighborhood. Kara took the moment to slide her black lead-lined frames back into place, before looking back up at the man curiously. “But, maybe in the future we could see you in red and blue too.” He gave his cousin a warm smile and Kara couldn’t help the shy one that grew on her lips at the implication; an image of her family crest one day displayed across her own chest springing to mind.

She leapt forward, embracing her Kryptonian family member. “That’d be amazing Kal!”

He laughed. “I’ll see you in a couple of hours?” Kara nodded, still beaming. Then, in two swift blurs of blue, Superman flew into the air while she was speeding down to her nearby balcony window. She was so ecstatic, adrenaline still pumping through her alien veins.

But the moment her feet hit the cold hardwood floors, she felt the energy rush out of her. It wasn’t the floors doing though. It was the icy glare she was receiving from her sister.

“Do you have any idea how-“

“-how late I am, or how bad it is that I used my powers in public?” interrupted the blonde, already knowing Alex’s train of thought. By the sudden ashen face, widening chocolate eyes, and dropping jaw, Kara could assume that Alex had only been concerned about hair and make-up. At least until now.

“Y.. you what?! Kara! What if you blew your cover?!”

Kara nervously grinned, hand reaching to tip her glasses in anxious habit. "We'll talk later. Gotta get dressed!" Taking a side-step toward her dress, she yanked the object into her arms and used her super speed to dash into the bedroom, escaping her fuming family.

Within seconds, she was in her room, already dressed and spinning herself in front of her mirror, admiring her pristine white, sweetheart cut gown. She smiled as the floral patterns of sequins shimmered under the room’s streaming sunlight, glittering like the stars from which she came, as the piece was tied together by a soft silken bow at her waist. This was no strip mall store dress, that’s for sure. Cat had given her some spending money to ensure she got the dress of her dreams (‘For both of their sakes’ had been the rationale). She really couldn’t wait to see the look on Cat’s face when she saw her final choice!

Mere moments passed as she admired the garment before her super hearing picked up some mumbled, and very disgruntled words coming from her kitchen.

_“I swear I’m going to tug her zipper too hard to ruin her dress like she ruined mine for Prom..”_

“Alex, I can hear you!”

_“Good!”_

-

Kara hummed happily, drumming her fingers on the leather coated door frame of the first class limousine that Cat had booked specifically for her. The luxurious seats were creamy smooth, the atmosphere smelled like roses which decorated the lavish seating, and the small flutes of champagne were complimentary upon pick-up. Kara was thankful for that part because her still annoyed sister seemed to finally settle down after throwing back both offered drinks upon climbing into the car. But, just as Kara had successfully ignored the lecturing ramblings while her face was painted, Alex’s over-protectiveness was not going to bother her now. She was mere minutes away from the best event ever.

And, honestly, she was most excited to see her current fiancée’s attire. Catherine Grant looked absolutely breathtaking in everything that had the honor to grace her perfect body, from silk lingerie and ball gown dresses, to loose-fit yoga pants and Kara’s oversized t-shirts. But, to see the woman of her dreams in such a special outfit still had Kara’s nerves twitching in anticipation.

It did not take long for the car to pull up near the front gates of Metropolis Central Park; the large pillars extending tall overhead indicating the entrance to the place where the two first entertained the idea of a true date. She saw Maggie all dressed up in a dark suit near the park opening, speaking to Cat’s usual photographer who had the very important assignment of documenting the wedding festivities. From Kara’s arrival point, she could see the other limousine already parked, and her heart leapt.

She glanced toward Alex who offered her a warm smile, cheeks pink; her whole demeanor change likely positively influenced by her now being slightly under the.. influence. Kara had no complaints and excitedly opened her door before her driver had the chance to assist.

As she stepped out, Marc, their personal photographer had leapt into action, taking snapshots and coming close to the young girl to capture her expressions. She could not have been more distracted in that moment because the doorman to the other white stretch limousine was opening the door, offering a hand inside.

First to hop out was an adorable little boy, brunette curls not as unruly as usual, but he looked positively dapper in a little white suit. Kara even spied a striped red and yellow bowtie at his collar. He looked her way with a partially toothless grin and waved happily with both hands, hopping slightly in the excitement. Her heart basically melted as she waved back to her favorite little Picasso.

After he had exhausted at least a small part of his excitement, he turned to the car and offered his right hand inside; the other hand awkwardly tucking behind his back as he tried to mirror the driver’s poise. And then..

Nothing in Kara’s wildest dreams could have prepared her for the angel stepping out of the vehicle. Soft golden air shined under the afternoon sunlight, glowing like a halo. Draped over her pale, slim shoulders was a milky colored satin lace with an impossible amount of tiny hook buttons trailing from her neck following every millimeter of her spine, whilst the rest of the dress spilled to her feet like a waterfall. And then that perfect face turned over her lace topped shoulder, piercing green eyes latching onto Kara’s wide-eyed stare.

Kara could not process much of anything beyond Cat turning and slowly approaching her stilled form, her blue eyes continuing to take in every little detail of the obviously hand-crafted original piece; the small bouquet of orange, yellow and red Roses kissed with Baby’s Breath accentuating the entire outfit. She was a picture of elegance. The taller woman only finally snapped from her stupor at Cat’s voice.

“My, don’t you clean up nice,” were the words directed toward her, so typical of the witty woman, who now stood so close to Kara. “Your dress.. well, I’m pleased I haven’t seen it in a Macy’s magazine.”

However, the young woman could hear the softness beneath the words, as well as the slightly breathy and near inaudible sigh that escaped those red painted lips as the very end. Reining back her own gawking, she took the moment to really look directly into the woman’s hazel eyes and was momentarily struck by the awe she saw in them as they danced over her features, and also glancing down, taking in Kara’s own dress. Cat looked genuinely floored, desperately hiding her attraction beneath her air of controlled nonchalance.

That drew a flush to Kara’s face, realizing that her own appreciation was being reciprocated in equal adoration by this goddess before her.

Words really failed her at that moment.

“You two are stunning,” came the excited voice from their photographer as he smiled, flipping through the first collection of shots he got. “Oh! I absolutely love getting the dress reveal faces!”

Both women smiled, Cat thanking him fondly in a rather rare manner. She turned to Kara, offering her hand which the alien wasted no time in taking.

The two started into the main entrance of the park where fancy metal rails were set up along with two guards barring the luxurious green from the public for the day. Their day. Cat spared no expense for their privacy after all. Though, the magnificent view inside the park didn’t matter because Kara was unable to keep her blue eyes off of the petite woman who was leading her forward; hips hypnotically sashaying in that somehow both loose and flowing, yet still form-hugging gown.

So entranced, Kara completely missed the man who stepped in front of her on the sidewalk; the abruptness suddenly stopping her and, subsequently Cat, in their tracks.

The younger woman’s first instinct was to apologize to the pedestrian. She was the one who was distractedly ogling a beautiful woman after all. But to her surprise, the man started talking to her. Or rather, _at_ her.

“Cat Grant and Kara Danvers, you both look absolutely stunning in those dresses,” he said. Just as the suddenness of the compliment was processed in her mind, she heard an annoyed groan from behind her. Then the man continued speaking, and Kara was able to place the reason for Cat’s groan. “Who are you wearing?”

Oh Rao, no.

Kara knew that she was too flabbergasted to speak and she was blankly staring at this guy, whose notepad and small pen-shaped microphone recorder now obviously gave away his profession. After a few seconds of silence with his hand extended toward her face, the man seemed to give up and turned his attention to the frowning small woman at Kara’s side.

“Cat, is it true Metropolis Park is reserved for you today?”

While she could hear her lover respond in terse jibes, Kara slowly began to notice the circling bodies encroaching on their general vicinity, including some wearing familiar tags of the local press outlets and even.. familiar faces? _No. Way._ _That guy works in my department!_ She really shouldn’t be surprised, though. Her boss had picked her brain just enough to know that this would be a great scoop for the Planet, just like her earliest gossip column post was. Oh, Kara had so many regrets for opening her big mouth. Too many details had slipped out!

None of the past mattered now, though. Her hand clenched at her side, subconsciously.

“Word on the street is you’re having a ceremony. How many guests are attending your event? Any celebrities in attendance?”

As the first nosey man continued to pepper questions directed at her fiancée, Kara felt her annoyance start to boil over the top. She had dealt with the spotlight and excess attention for months, dipping in and out of her personal life. And she had always done it with a demure smile in place, hand grasped closely within Cat’s own, giving the media all of the gossip and exclusives that they so voraciously hungered after.

But how _dare_ any of these people intrude on this one particular day!

Kara stepped forward, standing in front of her media mogul and effectively cutting off another one of Cat’s biting retorts. With a firm draw of her lips, brow furrowed and confident gleam in her stormy blue eyes, Kara yanked the pen-microphone out of the reporter’s hand; the feel of it cold within her heated fingers as she waved it aggressively toward him.

“Stop, right now,” she said, more firmly than she had expected. “This is our wedding day and I will not have you ruining a moment I’ve waited years for.” Her eyes were furiously looking into the man’s own as her tall form seemed to tower over him. “Kindly take your questions elsewhere. We are taking nothing today.” With that, she shoved the microphone back into the man’s arms. She had meant to just push him aside, but the extra force in her shove, which she did very little to stifle, sent him sprawling onto the sidewalk.

She looked down at his shocked face, and she sobered, instantly regretting her unrestrained outburst and poor management of her inhuman strength. She knelt down quickly; worry welling in her pure blue eyes.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to push you so hard! Are yo-“

“ _Today_ is your wedding day?” The absolute revelation in his voice was alarming.

Kara felt a zap of lightning singe down her spine, crackles rippling in her ears as a mortified heat raged over her cheeks. She stared at the stunned eyes of the reporter, who apparently never let up on chasing the story of the day, even after a physical setback. Her jaw slowly unhinged as she just gaped, unable to immediately respond to the question following her verbal faux pas.

Then, a familiar brilliance of lights, followed by the sound of staccato clicks and popping, filled her surroundings and it didn’t take her superhuman abilities to know that all of the reporters and journalists within the area had now swarmed over them faster than ants to honey. Why did she have to go and make a spectacle?

She let her eyes fall to the small gap of sidewalk between her and sprawled reporter. _Maybe if I just stay here, they’ll get bored and leave us alone.. They smell fear._ Her mind was racing. All logical thought had long since derailed and was going to be of no use at this time. But the questions rained down like a torrential downpour of molten rocks following a volcanic eruption.

“So you aren’t really married?”

“Is that why you haven’t changed your last name, Ms. Danvers?”

“How long has this ruse been going on?”

“Is this due to Kara’s association with The Daily Planet?”

Long seconds had stretched into a full minute before she turned her head, looking up at her fiancée. Cat, the most talented, confident, quick-witted person that Kara had ever known, to Kara’s sheer surprise, seemed unable to say anything; lips parted in just the slightest. The petite blonde simply watched the crouched woman, whites of her eyes a millimeter wider than usual. It was barely perceivable, but Kara recognized the shock and uncertainty.

Cat Grant, unsure of how to proceed and at a loss for words. It was something that absolutely terrified Kara. She understood that Cat wanted to tread carefully, not overstep the details of their prolonged guise as to not accidentally counter Kara’s own story. Kara hated it, knowing that Cat never wanted to ruin Kara’s perfectly crafted, idiotic, dumb stupid lie. Meanwhile, more and more cameras and microphones encroached on their personal space while the questions persisted.

“Is this a publicity stunt for CatCo?”

“Do you actually even like her, Kara?”

“Kara, are you getting paid for pretending to be her wife?”

Kara was looking into Cat’s perfect green orbs and did not miss the flinch and look of hesitance that crossed the older woman’s features. The questions were growing more and more personal, and had obviously struck an ever-present nerve which Kara knew all too well. It was a subject which she had spent many nights reassuring Cat about; that what she felt for the older woman was true. That she was truly, madly, deeply in love. Now these vultures were making the painful wounds of worry re-open, and on the day that was supposed to be the happiest of their lives? How dare they!

The anger was back, tenfold, eyes irate and fire searing over her body.

She leaped to her feet, more livid than she had been minutes earlier when dealing with the first reporter.

With a deep inhale, Kara began the biggest tirade of her life as the questions echoed in her mind. “Fine, you want the truth? No, we’re not actually married. Yes, it’s why I didn’t change my last name. It’s been going on since the media first learned of it 9 months ago. No, it has nothing to do with The Daily Planet. No, it’s not some publicity stunt.” She grabbed Cat’s hand firmly, lacing their fingers. “Yes, I’m _actually_ completely _in love_ with this amazing woman.”

She paused, mildly appreciating the silence as every one of the journalists waited for her to finish answering the questions that each one had asked. She swallowed hard, eyes becoming determined. She squeezed Cat’s hand for reassurance, relieved to feel the usual squeeze in response.

“And no, _I_ was never getting paid to pretend to be her wife..” She waited for a beat before continuing as the amassing crowd around them processed that statement. “I had actually commissioned _her_ to pretend to be _my_ wife when we first met.”

“Kara..” she heard Cat say softly, taking a step closer to her so that their shoulders were touching; warm skin on skin contact. Said woman just chewed her lower lip and shook her head.

“No, I’m sick of this stupid lie and forcing you to be a part of my stupidity!” she said in aggravation, guilt so heavy and weighing on the walls she had built up to hide everything. But the dam was finally breaking under the weight of the lies; it was crumbling down.

“The truth is.. The truth is that I lied when I got my job saying I had a kid and that I was married and then one brainless lie led to another and I needed someone to pose as my family for Bring Your Child to Work Day and, to my luck, Cat Grant graciously took pity on my situation and agreed to help cover up my stupid, stupid, _stupid_ lie despite me working at her biggest rivaling company.” She took a huge gulp of air, more so out of pure exasperation than being winded by the outburst. “And, then we fell in love, and dear freaking goodness it feels _so_ good to finally say this all out loud!”

A huge smile lit up her face as her eyes lifted to the clear blue sky and the heavenly red sun.

The announcement stirred the crowd even more than the original topic which had started this mayhem. But Kara did not care. Eyes set firmly to the crowd, she ended her rant with, “Now, excuse us! We have a wedding to do.”

She quickly spun Cat around along with her, softly tugging her toward the barred off park entrance where their small cluster of family and friends had been looking on in bewilderment. She could hear the quick clicks of Louboutin heels trying to keep up with her long strides; the sounds of chatter becoming distant as she and her closest company made it through the protected park threshold and into the scenic and quiet natural wonder.

While the rest of their guests walked ahead in a small group, whispering unabashedly about the scene they had all just witnessed, the two blondes kept back, hand in hand. It was the media mogul who finally spoke, unable to stifle a small disbelieving laugh along with it.

“That was certainly.. brazen of you.” Her confident smile and impressed eyes brought a bashful chuckle to Kara’s lips. The younger of the duo settled on shrugging, accepting the compliment as Cat playfully nudged her shoulder. 

"Hopefully that story will satiate the press for a while.." Kara mumbled, almost sounding regretful for her magnificent reveal. "I'm sorry for all of that. I think I may have said too much at work.. _again_." She groaned, slightly annoyed at herself for causing such stressful havoc during their pre-wedding time. The other blonde just waved it off with pristine dismissal, as she did with all the unimportant hindrances in life.

"I had a feeling that elder Lane had stuck her nose into our business again. Though, I must say, it was certainly appealing watching you play knight in shining armor. " She wriggled her lips. "A regular Super Girl."

Instantly, Kara's face turned scarlet as her eyes widened. Yes, her heart grew in size, as did her ego slightly, but she responded by cutely tucking her smiling face down toward her neck. _Well, that'll sure be a discussion for_ _later..._

There was a short beat of silence while they continued to leisurely walk beneath the trees before Cat spoke once again. “Well, it looks like I was right, yet again.”

This time, Kara turned her head to the still proudly smirking blonde woman. She raised a questioning brow. “Right about what..?”

Cat tilted her head, expression turning playful. “I told you that one day your story wouldn’t be a lie anymore. And, viola.” She motioned with her hand as a cute smile appeared on her dainty lips. “The truth is out and the lie is gone.”

It took the taller woman a long moment to process the words. She knew they had this conversation months ago, in this very park, but she remembered it differently. “That’s.. totally not what I thought you had meant back then..?”

“Oh? And what did you think I meant?” The response was coy and sweet, but held a seductive undertone. Much like the woman herself.

Kara could not help her face scrunching up in confusion, recalling the conversation; the total come-on that it had been. “You.. I thought you were referring to.. one day.. us getting married for, like, real?” Her cheeks reddened a little at how forward it sounded.

The petite blonde stared at the utterly confused face of her soon-to-be wife and rolled her eyes at the innocence. “My, Kara. How _presumptuous_ of you,” she said with a bit of sarcasm added to her tone; a quirk of her lips present. It only made Kara’s blush deepen. Cat sighed. “Oh, you still have so much to learn about jokes, my 'beyond the moon' love.”

Kara just stared back at her, barely processing the teasing quip before feeling herself guided toward the private sanctuary of their decorated ceremony spot. 

-

The ceremony went beautifully and, thankfully, with no interruptions. The small audience was tearful, as were the two gorgeous brides standing front and center beneath the shady trees. Vows left the women breathless with hearts full, bursting at the seams with a love so unconditional, neither could begin to believe it to be real. And it was finally coming to its wonderful closure; the moment everyone had been waiting for.

Maggie stood between the two, reading from her small book comprised of a personalized reading and looking to the smaller bride. “Do you, Catherine Grant, take Kara Danvers, to love and to hold for the rest of your life?”

She gave a soft smile, green eyes never leaving the baby blues opposite of her. “I do.”

The detective looked up to her sister-in-law next. “And do you, Kara Danvers, take Catherine Grant, to love and to hold for the rest of your life?”

A breath. Then, without warning, a giggle passed Kara’s lips before she answered, drawing looks from the group. She stared earnestly into Cat’s curious eyes. “You can definitely trust that when I say ‘I do’, there is no way there is going to ever be any lies attached to it.”

Cat snorted, so accustomed to Kara’s dorky outbursts, but she couldn’t help but give a snarky yet loving grin. “I’m so glad you learned a moral lesson from all of this, darling.” Kara beamed like a proud puppy and Cat absolutely melted under its bright warmth.

“Come on!” weakly whined the young boy positioned at Cat’s side as his small hand tugged at Cat’s dress. “Let’s get to the good part.”

Maggie cleared her throat. “Well alright then. By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you partners for life. You may kiss your bride.”

And both blonde women did not need any more instruction. Cat’s free hand cupped Kara’s cheek as Kara placed her own hands atop Cat’s shoulder and her waist. Happily, their lips met as they had so many times before in their time together. But this time, it was official to the fullest extent. They were together. There were no more lies. Everything was perfect.

“Ugh,” came Carter’s innocent voice as he continued to tug his mom’s dress. “Come on, I want cake!”

Both women separated from the kiss with a light laugh at the boy’s earnest hunger, something which Kara could understand. They knelt down, both opening their arms to wrap around the hungry (now) second grader who squirmed with giggles all his own; their first hug as an official family.

_This really is a happily ever after._ Kara looked at her most treasured people tucked in her strong arms. _Everything is absolutely perfect._

_._

_._

_._

Kara spun Cat around on the dance floor, laughing boisterously as the smaller blonde seemed absolutely blown away by Kara’s surprisingly graceful rhythm. No need for words, her face asked the question: _“Is this really the clumsy alien with the ability to fly faster than a speeding bullet, yet still trips over her own two feet while wearing flats, who’s dipping me and twirling me like a Dancing With the Stars contestant?”_ It just brought a brighter smile to the younger woman’s already glowing face.

Finally, the two took a break; both walking over to where Carter sat eating what must have been his third slice of cake. Cat, somewhere along the line, had manifested her white satin clutch into her hands and was reaching in for what Kara new would be the usual wet wipes. Watching and enjoying the familiar scene unfold as expected, she almost missed the steps coming behind her.

Next thing she knew, Alex was tapping her on the shoulder. “Kara, there was an article posted by the Daily Planet tonight.” Blue eyes looked at her sister seeing the concerned look in her chocolate eyes. “About the _events_..”

When Alex’s voice turned a bit angry, something struck her.

Cold. Straight through her heart. A terrifying fear. She could hear her cousin’s voice, asking for help. She could feel the wind embracing her under the bright sunlight. The cold steel of the aircraft. The blinking of flashes from the city streets below. The sights she could see without the protective confines of her lead-lined rims..

Her hand subconsciously rose to where her glasses still sat.

_There’s no way.. My glasses weren’t on.. I-I couldn’t have exposed either of us.. right?_

Baby blues quickly fell to the cell phone, which she had missed, clutched in Alex’s hand. She yanked it away, thumb scrolling to the headline overlaid across a photo as she chewed down hard on her lip. Her breath caught.

Terror drained from her heart only to be replaced and filled by something described as horrified mortification.

The image on the screen was not of her and the Man of Steele soaring above Metropolis.

Instead, it was of a frazzled Kara, dressed to the nines in her princess dress, angrily standing over a fallen reporter with a concerned Cat Grant in the background; her tiny hand, lifted toward Kara as if in a half-hearted attempt to stop whatever was about to unfold. Splashed across the image in large, yellow blocked font:  **_Save the Date? More Like Save the Reporter! Kara Danvers’ Pre-Wedding Meltdown!_**

“Are you serious..” Kara glared narrowly at her now chuckling sister.

“I cannot even believe how lucky you got not having your alien identity blown,” Alex said with a slightly amused, yet mostly relieved voice.

Kara tossed her a sister a knowing look. “Really? You can’t believe _my_ luck?” She threw her arm in the direction of their newest family additions, currently sharing a mother and son dance. “The girl who actually thought she could rent a kid and potentially a wife off of Craigslist, yet ended up actually getting that kid and wife as a real family?”

The brunette pursed her lips, before shaking her head with a sigh. “Yeah, you’re right, how could I have ever doubted you.”

The blonde grinned, barely having time to let out a rushed “I’m always right” before finding herself being yanked back to the dance floor by her petite love.

 

-FIN-


End file.
